Western Cape Disaster Management prepares for prolonged electricity outage

This morning Premier Alan Winde, Anton Bredell, Western Cape Minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning and key leadership of the Western Cape Government received an update on the Eskom power outage impacting the Central Karoo. Eskom briefed the meeting on its plans to restore power; and the Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC) on its efforts to assist residents with accessing critical services such as water, health, education, and ensuring food security.

The PDMC is planning and coordinating essential services for a prolonged electricity outage in parts of the Central Karoo. “We are working closely with Eskom, as the lead on this incident, to provide any assistance possible to repair the powerline that collapsed on Saturday evening in the Karoo. Eskom informed us that the repair project is complex, and although they are working as fast as possible, repairs will most likely take at least a week.”

Currently, the Western Cape towns of Roggeveld, Laingsburg, Ladismith, Leeugamka, Swartberg, Merweville, Matjiesfontein, Prince Albert are affected. Fraserburg and Sutherland in the Northern Cape are also affected.

Minister Bredell said the provincial government will focus on essential services, such as drinking water and wastewater systems in the affected communities, as well as the functioning of public services, such as hospitals and schools during this outage period. “We need to ensure our hospitals and schools have water and that they have sufficient diesel to run generators. We are also sending generators to institutions that do not currently have generators.

Minister Bredell confirmed that the following generators are being dispatched for critical service delivery:

• A 100 kVA generator from the Overberg District Municipality is currently being installed in Laingsburg for Water Treatment.
• A 45 kVA generator from the Garden Route District Municipality is being installed in Matjiesfontein for water today.
• A 100 kVA generator from Bitou municipality for water provision in Prince Albert today.

The following generators will be dispatched for installation in central business areas:

• A 650 kVA generator from the Western Cape Department of Health in Prince Albert.
• A 350 kVA generator from the Western Cape Department of Health in Laingsburg.
• A 315 kVA generator from Eskom in Laingsburg.
• A 315 kVA from Eskom in Prince Albert.
• A 315 kVA generator from Eskom in Ladismith.

“At our Joint Operations Meeting this morning, Eskom confirmed that specialist teams are currently en-route to the site, and abnormal vehicles are preparing to transport the needed materials and equipment to the Karoo. “Our traffic services are assisting with the logistics of this to avoid any holdups with this part of the repair project,” Minister Bredell said.

Minister Bredell asked for the cooperation of all affected communities. “We acknowledge your frustration and anxiety. We are supporting Eskom in every way possible to get power back as fast as possible with your safety and well-being central to each action we take.”

Premier Winde has thanked both residents, government, and civil society for stepping up to support each other during this unprecedented power outage, “You are our partners and prove that here in the Western Cape we always step up for each other - our fellow resident. Thank you to the citizens who have stepped up to ensure that our school hostels have power, our disaster management officials who are still battling fires for stepping in, and our officials across government for diving in and making sure that we make this as bearable as possible for our residents in the Karoo. From the bottom of my heart – thank you, you humble me with your compassion and support for each other!”