Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell in the Karoo alongside the downed pylon.

• A drill used in repairs to a downed power line in the Karoo has broken.
• The power outage has left multiple Western Cape towns without electricity for more than a week.
• The breakdown is preventing the completion of drilling work to anchor temporary support poles.

A rock drill that is essential to the repair of a downed powerline behind a widespread outage in the Western Cape has broken down during Eskom’s restoration work.

In an update on Monday, Western Cape Premier Alan Winde said Eskom indicated during a briefing that a hard rock formation between Touws River and Laingsburg had led to the breakdown of its rock drill.

This breakdown is “preventing the completion of the last four 2.4m-deep holes that are needed to anchor the remaining temporary poles” that will support new electrical lines, said Winde.

Communities in the Central Karoo have been without electricity for more than a week after heavy storms destroyed seven pylons on 3 February.

The towns of Roggeveld, Laingsburg, Ladismith, Leeu Gamka, Swartberg, Merweville, Matjiesfontein, Prince Albert, Fraserburg and surrounding areas have been without power since.

READ MORE | ‘Living on sugar water and bread’: How Western Cape power outage is affecting vulnerable residents

Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning MEC Anton Bredell said the provincial government had, on the weekend, reached out to equipment and transport contractors to assist with a drilling rig and an additional excavator.

“The faulty rock drill is currently being fixed, but we need to do everything in our power to avoid delays on this project. As such, we will support Eskom where we can with procurement and logistics,” Bredell said.

Along with the hard rock formations, other challenges facing the Eskom crews include faulty equipment and stage 6 load shedding, said Winde.

“Staff across the Western Cape government have been assisting with all sorts of support that Eskom needs to expedite this issue, from procuring drilling equipment to transporting and moving generators and equipment to the affected areas. They are working tirelessly.

“I want to reassure the residents of the Karoo that we are working flat-out to help Eskom restore electricity to you.”

Increased load shedding has further compounded matters for the affected Karoo towns, as generator availability in the province is stretched to the limit, Winde said.

“Many of these generators are from an R88-million allocation that the Western Cape government made to municipalities at the beginning of 2023 when they needed to secure safe drinking water and water treatment as the worst impacts of Eskom’s load shedding were becoming increasingly felt.” 

He added:

Bredell said at least four additional generators were needed to provide power to critical infrastructure in Leeu Gamka and Prince Albert.

Eskom had not issued an update on the repair work at the time of publication.

However, on Friday afternoon, the utility said its teams were “working around the clock to restore electricity to the Karoo” and that it hoped to “meet an earlier deadline”.

The expected date for the complete restoration of electricity remains Thursday.