Load-shedding: Why some areas are affected and others not
Farming communities which have a low electricity demand, may not be as adversely affected by load-shedding
The dreaded load-shedding has returned to South Africa and Mpumalanga faced stage 4 rotational load-shedding over the weekend. What this means to the layman is that power utility, Eskom, needs to shed more than 4000 MW of power to stabilise the national grid.
With stage 4 load-shedding, Eskom starts further, unscheduled power cuts as the need dictates which means that areas can be blacked out without warning at any time.
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Rolling blackouts are on the cards for Lowvelders, with some areas experiencing more load-shedding than others, depending on the electricity consumption in a particular area.
Steiltes residents have reported experiencing power cuts up to three times per day while their neighbours in places like The Edge and apartment complexes, which were originally built on farmsteads, remained largely unaffected.
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Mbombela municipality spokesman, Joseph Ngala shed more light on this occurrence. He said, “There are different blocks throughout the city and Steiltes falls under a particular block, next to a farm supplied directly by Eskom.”
“The power utility looks at large power users for example, areas like KaNyamazane, Pienaar and Matsulu are on a separate load-shedding schedule. Areas which use a low amount of electricity are not affected.”
“If the load is not too much, you will not be affected, especially farming communities which use minimal power as opposed to densely populated areas which have a much higher electricity consumption.”
Ngala added that residents who purchase electricity from municipal offices and vendors were more likely to be affected than users who live on farmsteads where the electricity is supplied by Eskom.
