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Eskom customers in Somerset West have been without power since Tuesday. ((Phill Magakoe/Gallo Images)
- Eskom customers in Somerset West have been without power since Tuesday.
- The time of restoration is unclear.
- The power utility is encouraging residents to report vandalism and theft via its hotline.
Eskom customers in the Helderberg area, which includes Somerset West and Strand, have no power thanks to vandals who targeted the Lourensrivier substation on Tuesday night.
"The continuous theft and vandalism of Eskom infrastructure is impeding both basic service delivery and major infrastructure projects, as well as severely affecting the electricity restoration to customers who are without power for long durations," the power utility said in a statement on Wednesday.
"Field technicians and specialised construction teams are on site assessing the damage. Unfortunately, there is still no estimated time for the restoration of electricity supply."
Eskom has set up a rewards system to encourage residents to provide information that may lead to the arrest of the perpetrators of vandalism and theft.
"We urge communities to take a stand and work together with Eskom and the authorities to bring those responsible to justice," it said.
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Members of the public can report incidents via the toll-free hotline 0800 11 27 22 or to police.
Meanwhile, the City of Cape Town is also working towards the restoration of power.
"Accurate times of restoration are regrettably not possible to give," the City added.
The City said it was following up with Eskom regularly.
"We urge residents to unplug all inverters to avoid the system from being overloaded and tripping at such time when the power is restored."
