These Joburg areas will experience 10-hour power outages this week

Eskom has announced planned 10-hour power outages in Soweto and the Braamfischerville area from Tuesday, 8 October until Thursday, 10 October due to the planned maintenance.

The power utility said residents in the affected areas would have no power from 8am until 6pm while officials will be replacing rotten poles which carry medium voltage powerlines.

Johannesburg power outages: What to know

“Eskom would like to inform customers in Soweto and Braamfischerville of an electricity supply interruption due to maintenance to be conducted on the distribution network,” the power utility said in a notice.

The maintenance work in the area started last week, with power disconnected between Wednesday and Thursday.

The planned maintenance will also take place next Tuesday, 15 October and Wednesday, 16 October.

In the interest of safety, Eskom said customers should treat all electrical appliances as live at all times during the power outages.

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Eskom racks up diesel bill to keep the lights on

Meanwhile, the country has been spared from the bane of load shedding for 196 consecutive days since 26 March 2024.

The power utility has been able to keep the lights on after concerted efforts by the new Eskom leadership, led by chief executive Dan Marokane, and support from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Eskom said in a statement on Friday, that it has spent R5.91 billion on diesel in the past six months to avert load shedding by powering the open-cycle gas turbines.

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Load shedding-free summer?

Eskom expects a load-shedding-free summer season, with their outlook predicting load shedding in March next year.

At the group’s seasonal outlook briefing at the end of August, Marokane said Eskom was optimistic that it would be able to meet the base-case scenario.

However, he flagged some summer variables that could impact the system. This includes:

• High risk of rain and its impact on the ecosystem. Rain levels and weather patterns are more extreme than before, the CEO noted.
• There is also a possibility of excessive heat, which could also impact the operations of the power stations.

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