Prepare for blackouts in Gauteng, as Eskom implements Friday night load reduction

Power utility Eskom has announced that it will be implementing load reduction in Soweto, Vaal and the West Rand from 5pm to 10pm to avoid network overloading.

The affected areas include:

• Soweto – Dobsonville, Dube, Jabavu Central Western, Klipspruit, Meadowlands Zones 1-10, Mofolo Central, Mofolo North, Mofolo South, Noordgesig, Orlando East and Orlando West.
• West Rand – Paardekraal and Roodepoort.
• Vaal – Driezik, Poortjie, Orange Farm, Boitumelo, Evaton Central, Small Farms, Evaton West, Sebokeng units 8, 12, 13, 14, 16 & 19.

“To avoid network overload, please use electricity sparingly by switching off non-essential electrical appliances such as geysers, washing machines, heaters etc. during peak times,” Eskom said.

The utility also urged people in the affected areas to not log a fault during the period.

Meanwhile, Eskom said on Tuesday it had noted a significant rise in network overloading resulting from illegal connections across the high-density areas of Gauteng.

This overloading was also apparent in areas with multiple or backyard dwellings, bypassed meters, and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure.

“These illegal connections and tampering with Eskom equipment result in damages to electrical infrastructure such as transformers, mini-substations and substations in these areas. The affected areas include parts of Cosmo City, Diepsloot, Ivory Park, Orange Farm, Sebokeng, and Soweto,” the utility said in a statement.

“The illegal connections, meter bypasses and other theft-related activities on our infrastructure continue to be the leading cause for the sporadic and prolonged electricity interruptions, which leave the communities without power for days. Eskom is not in a position to continually repair damaged equipment caused by overloading and illegal connections.

“Eskom continues to monitor the network in real time, and would like to request our customers to desist from tampering with electricity infrastructure. Eskom continues to safeguard its assets by auditing, removing illegal connections and fixing bypassed meters in an effort to protect the network to operate optimally according to design capacity.

Eskom also urged users to help them manage the load by switching off appliances such as heaters, stoves and geysers, and only use them when absolute necessary in order to stabilise the network at the local level.

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