Eskom says the reason for the power outage in Wesbank, is due to the vandalism of network infrastructure.

This response comes after residents of the area took to the streets with violent protests earlier this week, blaming the power utility for the loss of electricity.

It’s understood that the community had been without electricity for most of the past weekend.

But, the power utility says it managed to restore the power on Sunday.

However a few hours later the electricity went off again due to the vandalism of infrastructure.

Power was then restored to the area at around 11pm on Monday night after Eskom technicians had fixed a vandalised cable.

Eskom’s Regional Manager, Alwie Lester, has urged the public to report those involved in these illegal activities.

“Eskom is not in a position to continually replace stolen and vandalised equipment across the province and in particular in the metro area. We call upon communities to please safeguard this infrastructure and report any incident or individual who is involved in this theft and vandalism. This debilitates our service provision to communities”.