Only a two months after president Jacob Zuma assured all South African that there would not be any more load shedding in South Africa, erratic power supply throughout many parts of Gauteng will continue during the coming cold winter days. But now they will be called ‘outages’ and not ‘load shedding’.
Zuma’s exact words:
“I have come to see how we are doing. Receiving reports about what is happening might not tell the whole story, anyone can write a report.
I was saying to your management earlier that I am now aware that we are close to finish(ing) a year without load shedding, and I tell people that we are not going to have it any more. I wondered, having not been here, am I telling the truth? Now I am going to tell people there will never be any load shedding, I have been here, I have seen it.
Even though I did not go to any school, I understood it. It was very articulate. I wanted to run out in the street and say we have won, and I am told that soon we will have surplus energy to sell.”
The reason for these ‘outages’ has also changed. It’s not because of a lack of supply, apparently, but because of the slow installation of smart meters.
Eskimo says the installation of smart meters and bigger substations with increased capacity would take anything between “three to five years” which would allow for “more capacity and reduce overloading of the system.”
Khulu Phasiwe, spokesperson for power ‘utility’ Eskom says icy and wintry weather conditions across Gauteng this week exerted pressure on numerous electricity substations, causing them to trip and leave hundreds of thousands in the dark. That does not mean that load shedding has returned.
In Dube and Zola, residents went on the rampage, looting businesses and damaging property. They plundered a KFC branch, a bakery, Pep Stores branch, and damaged Jozi FM’s studios. In Zola, they closed streets and damaged vehicles, accusing Eskom of “unplanned load shedding”.
Phasiwe said the utility had not had load shedding in more than 10 months “and we don’t plan to have it”.
He said Soweto particularly was experiencing serious problems because many families have since extended their houses and built back rooms.
“But many of their meters were not designed to cope with electricity demands for the back rooms. Those meters need to be changed to accommodate a higher voltage.”
City Press reports that the areas that were affected in Soweto include Mofolo South and North, Mapetla, Zondi, Dube, Meadowlands and some parts of Zola. Illegal connections, power and cable theft cost Eskom about R2 billion every year in repairs.
City Power’s managing director, Sicelo Xulu, said the City of Joburg had problems in Lenasia, Eldorado Park, Vlakfontein, Klipspruit West and Zandspruit.
“It is because there are back yard, illegal connections and the network takes a strain. Once we had dealt with the illegal connections, we were able to restore the power and normalise the infrastructure.
He said the city was losing about R900 million annually as a result of illegal connections, electricity theft and cable theft. He encouraged residents to use power sparingly and also use proper heating equipment.
