South Africa’s biggest city is facing its own load shedding problem – and it can’t cope anymore
Johannesburg power utility City Power warns that stage 4 load shedding is placing too much strain on its resources, leading to prolonged breakdowns and outages.
In a notice published on social media, the utility said that some of its substations have been unable to return during restorations, leaving customers without power for a prolonged period of time.
“The recent ramping up of load shedding comes at the time when City Power was already overstretched by an increase in capacity demand due to inclement winter weather while battling rampant cable theft and illegal connections,” it said. It added that its call centres have been inundated with calls, with outage complaints surpassing 3,000 a day.
“We are still struggling in areas such as Emmerantia, Greenside, Linden, Roosevelt, Witpoortjie, Florida, Parkhurst, Cresta, Honeydew, Fleurhof, Tshepisong, Booysens Reserve, Craighall, Ennerdale, Blairgowrie, Olivenhout/Northriding, Bordeaux, among others.
“Load shedding has undesirable effects on the infrastructure which, by its nature was never meant to be switched on and off at short intervals, and comes with it added financial pressures that we did not budget for. Incidents of vandalism and cable theft increase during load-shedding, exacerbating the already dire situation.”
It added that cables that have been repaired after cable theft are also susceptible to faults during load shedding because they have been weakened over time.
Under pressure
Apart from the lost revenue during load shedding, the utility said it has also been forced to pull technicians and operators from leave, and many are already fatigued.
“We are also forced to divide our resources between attending to outage calls and responding to twice-hourly load shedding switch on and offs.
“We are aware of the inconvenience this is causing to the customers, and the pressure it puts on the councillors and City of Joburg regional offices, and our depots, and we appeal for patience and cooperation as the technicians work on repairs backlogs.”
The city said it’s ‘beefing up’ up its capabilities, but the longer load shedding drags, the more problems it will have in the future.
“Our mostly ageing infrastructure also cannot be ignored, and its wear and tear increase every time they are switched on and off at short intervals.
“We urge customers to also assist reduce in-rush current by switching off heavy appliances during load shedding. These include geysers, pool pumps, heaters, stoves. These can be switched back on, gradually, few minutes after restorations.”
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