By Staff Reporter
LEOKWE – The community of Leokwe village in Bolobedu woke up to yet another shocking incident of electricity infrastructure vandalism, leaving households without power and residents frustrated.
According to residents, the outage began on Monday, 1 December, after they discovered that electricity poles had been cut down during the night and cables stolen. The main line supplying Leokwe was completely vandalised, plunging the entire village into darkness.
Fuming community members said the continued attacks on electricity infrastructure are “getting out of hand,” urging residents to unite and take a stand against what they called ongoing criminality in the area.
This latest incident follows a similar wave of vandalism that recently affected Xihoko, Msiphani, Joppi, Nyakelani, parts of Mawa Block 7, and Nkambako.
In that case, thieves reportedly cut down poles to steal a 22kV feeder Ezrato conductor, causing severe damage and widespread outages that lasted days.
The Greater Tzaneen Municipality confirmed that Eskom had been notified and that a team of technicians had been dispatched to assess the damage and begin repair work.
In a short social media update, the municipality apologised to residents for the inconvenience, assuring them that work is underway to restore electricity as soon as possible.
The prolonged blackout has disrupted daily life significantly, with local businesses unable to operate and households losing food due to malfunctioning refrigerators.
Residents continue to express anger and desperation as they wait for power to be restored, calling for stronger action against infrastructure vandalism that has repeatedly destabilised the region.
