The municipality says that the scale of the problem had pushed out repair timelines.
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Additional technical teams were deployed across Durban on Friday to deal with a surge in power outages after severe weather knocked out electricity supply in multiple areas, eThekwini Municipality said.
“eThekwini Municipality’s Electricity and Energy Directorate is currently attending to a high volume of power outages affecting various areas across the City as a result of severe weather conditions,” the municipality said in a statement.
Contact centre swamped with fault reports
The directorate’s contact centre said it was overwhelmed by residents reporting electricity faults.
According to the municipality, “the Directorate’s Contact Centre is receiving a high number of calls from customers reporting electricity faults.”
Technical crews were sent out to affected suburbs to speed up repairs.
“Additional technical teams have been deployed to affected areas to assist with repairs and expedite the restoration of power supply,” the statement read.
Backlog delays restoration in some suburbs
Municipal data showed dozens of medium voltage faults still being processed on Friday, with areas including Malukazi, Gillitts, Alverstone, Umlazi-C and Kwandengezi-A among those whose repairs had been escalated to the depot for complex work.
Equipment failure and cable faults were listed as the most common causes, though theft and vandalism, along with vegetation encroaching on lines, were also recorded in several suburbs.
The municipality acknowledged that the scale of the problem had pushed out repair timelines.
“The extensive number of faults has resulted in prolonged outages in certain areas as municipal teams work systematically through the backlog,” it said.
Residents asked to be patient
The municipality appealed for calm while crews worked through the affected areas under difficult conditions.
“Residents are urged to exercise patience while repair and restoration work is carried out as safely as possible under the prevailing weather conditions,” the municipality said.
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