Plunged into darkness, cable theft, not load shedding

More than 50 residents living in Durban North, thinking they were hit by loadshedding, got the shock of their lives when they realised yesterday that cable thieves had struck.

RESIDENTS along High Ridge Road and the surrounding areas were stuck without power for more than 12 hours on Wednesday, 25 June, thinking that they were being subjected to load shedding.
But the residents would later discover that the unscheduled power outage and inconvenience was caused by power cable thefts.

Residents reported that the power outage started around 1am on Wednesday morning.
Melissa Coombes, a resident residing in Anthony Road, said, “We only realised that the power was out when we woke up. Like most of the other residents we assumed that it was load shedding, but when the power had still not come back on by the afternoon my husband phoned to report the power outage. When he finally got through he learned that someone else had reported it at 8.30am.”

Municipal workers arrived on scene at approximately 2pm to start replacing the stolen cables. According to Coombes they worked long after dark to complete the repairs.
The power was restored to the community at approximately 7pm, she said.
The municipal workers on site told the Northglen News that the thieves had stolen cable from five of the electricity poles along High Ridge Road.

It follows the collapse of cabling that supports a major water pipe carrying water to the north of the city. The cable theft plunged parts of Durban North and surrounding areas into a water crisis two weeks ago.
Eskom has urged residents to review the load shedding schedules online and to report any inconsistencies to the contact centre on 0860037566/08600ESKOM.