The scourge of cable theft has left some residents without power for more than ten months at Tauetsoala, in Steeiloop, Limpopo.
A suspected cable theft syndicate has been stealing electric cables that supply power from street poles to houses since December last year. As a result, residents in the village have been left in the dark.
Electricity cables are cut off and strewn outside households. This is a common sight in this village.
Most affected families report that attempts to replace the cables have been futile.
Lettie Makhura had to relocate as she was unable to use her electrical appliances. She says being in the dark every night, put her life at risk.
“My cable was cut off in December last year. I then opened a case at the police station and afterward called Eskom and they promised to come and replace it, but they still haven’t come. I then moved all my furniture to my mother’s house so that it could be safe, I later moved there too because there were regular break-ins here due to the darkness,” says Makhura.
Another affected resident Annikie Maifo buys firewood as her electric stove is unusable. “I have called Eskom so many times and they keep promising to come but they never do and I live with young children and they are always scared.”
The electric cable into Samuel Kwata’s house was also cut off in December last year. Kwata has now passed on, leaving his family to contend with funeral preparations in a place that does not have power.
“We have got a lot of challenges now we are going to slaughter a cow so without electricity so the cow must in the fridge and now there is no electricity what is going to happen about that meat,” asks Kwata family spokesperson Kgomotso Maela.
Eskom could not be reached for comment.
Residents of Limpopo village living in hardship as cable theft halts power supply
