Residents from Site B in Khayelitsha, Cape Town will be without for more days after they allegedly attacked Eskom workers who were in their area on Monday afternoon. The two employees were in the area to attend to an electrical fault in X section.
When Eskom workers were leaving, they were stopped by a group of people who demanded that they must stop and fix another electrical fault somewhere in the neighbourhood. The two employees, one of them aged 50 refused saying that they were only attending the fault which they were sent by their employer to fix.
Angry residents allegedly forced open the driver’s door and took away the car keys from the driver. When he attempted to resist he was moered and his colleague was also assaulted. The two managed to ran away and hide, leaving their vehicles and their equipment behind.
They later returned but the car keys were missing together with some of the equipment they use to fix electrical faults.
“Regrettably, one of the employees sustained severe injuries and is currently receiving medical attention. During the incident, an Eskom Enterprise Digital Assistant (EDA) was also taken along with the keys. However, only the vehicle keys have been recovered,” Eskom said in a statement.
Eskom said residents must be prepared to go for days, if not weeks without electricity in their area. The power supplier said they will be engaging local authorities to have their safety guaranteed before they could go back to work.
“Unfortunately, there will be a delay in electricity restoration efforts and customers may experience prolonged durations without electricity. Eskom strongly condemns the harassment of its employees, and their safety will always remain our highest priority,” Eskom said in a statement.
Police spokesman Warrant Officer Joseph Swartbooi said they are investigating intimidation, assault andbbery with a weapon other than a firearm cases.
“When they entered X Block in Sit B , the community members stopped the vehicle forcing them to assist them . The complainant explained that they were tasked on a specific call out as per their employer. The disgruntled community members then assaulted the victims and causing damages to the motor vehicle. They fled the scene for their own safety,” said Swartbooi.
Police urges anyone with information to call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.
