Electricity was recently restored to a farm outside Stellenbosch after cable theft left it in the dark for 12 days.
The cable theft happened during loadshedding on 11 April, according to Nicole Laubscher, Tweespruit farm manager. Power was restored after Eskom performed a line deviation on 23 April, she said.
The farm was subject to regular cable theft and vandalism during loadshedding for over four years, resulting in power outages, claimed Laubscher.
For more than four years, Tweespruit farm was subject to regular power outages during loadshedding as a result of cable theft and vandalism. Their most recent outage lasted 12 days. This is according to Nicole Laubscher, the farm manager. PHOTO: Aiden Louw
Light at the end of the power outage
“[To] prevent further vandalism of the network, Eskom initiated a process [a line deviation] to construct a new piece of line to join it to Stellenbosch Feeder 2. This process usually takes months to complete, but Eskom committed resources to expedite the line construction and restore electricity within 12 days,” stated Kyle Cookson, Eskom Western Cape spokesperson.
Tweespruit will no longer be affected by vandalism and theft to their previous electricity pole, according to Laubscher.
“Instead of the [electricity] lines coming from [the] Cloetesville side, they now come from the other side of the R304,” she said. “Hopefully now, after years of [power outages], it’s over.”
What Tweespruit saw in the dark
Tweespruit houses roughly 30 residents whose “livelihoods [were] seriously impacted” due to the power outage, according to Laubscher.
“None of the businesses on the farms [could] function. [They were] all losing serious revenue,” said Laubscher.
Tami Homan, a Tweespruit resident, said that she worked from home, taking care of her children but, because of the recent power outage, had to go to her Stellenbosch office every day to work and had to drop her sons off at their grandmother.
“[The recent power outage] has cost us all our meat and fruit […] our food security is gone,” said Teagan Reddy, another Tweespruit resident.
Two car mechanic shops on the farm were unable to use the lifts to work on the cars, said Louis Nel, a diesel mechanic at one of the shops.
Louis Nel, a diesel mechanic who works at two mechanic shops located on Tweespruit farm (Corvan Auto and Eikestad Auto Electrical), stated that he had to use a generator to restore some operations during power outages. However, the running of the generator was costly, he claimed. The shop was unable to use the lifts to work on the cars due to the power outage, he stated. PHOTO: Aiden Louw
The farm was robbed three times during the 12-day power outage and cables, poles, wires, a car battery and petrol were amongst the items stolen, said Laubscher. “We [were] so vulnerable.”
Laubscher claimed that excuses like broken machinery and paperwork were given for the 12-day delay.
More problem poles
While Tweespruit is located in an Eskom distribution area, similar thefts occur in Stellenbosch municipal zones, according to Deon Louw, the director of infrastructure services at Stellenbosch Municipality.
Tweespruit farm receives electricity from a pole located just outside their fences. The pole’s power cable was stolen on 11 April during loadshedding, resulting in a 12-day power outage on the farm. Electricity was recently restored after Eskom performed a line deviation. This is according to Nicole Laubscher, the farm manager. PHOTO: Aiden Louw