Load shedding and traffic: Avoid these roads on Tuesday

Eskom implemented stage 2 load shedding in order to replenish emergency generation reserves. However, as many motorists will attest, this also affects rush-hour traffic.

To avoid any necessary delays, steer clear of these roads if you can.

Traffic delays, 12 October

Johannesburg

• Traffic lights still out at President Fouche Drive and Witdoring Road in Northwold, Randburg
• Heavy delays on Corlett Avenue from South Road to Ontdekkers in Princess, Roodepoort
• A 20-minute delay on Malibongwe Drive between Witkoppen and the N1 in Sharonlea
• An accident scene on the M1 North near 11th Avenue slowing down traffic in Riverlea
• Slow moving traffic on the N1 South before Olifantsfontein Road causing delays in Midrand
• Traffic is heavily backed up Blandford Road between Ascot Avenue and Windsor Way in Northriding
• Accident on N12 westbound after Jet Park Rd: traffic delays and right lane blocked.

Ekurhuleni

• An accident scene on the N12 West near Kraft Road in Boksburg slowing down traffic

Tshwane

• Delays on Paul Kruger opposite Pretoria Zoo in Capital Park
• Bumper to bumper traffic approaching the intersection of Moloto Road and Sefako Makgatho Drive in Derdepoort
• More than a 20 minute delay on Rachel de Beer onto Paul Kruger in Pretoria North
• Slow moving traffic on Bremer Street between the R80 and the Daspoort Tunnel in Claremont

Load shedding here to stay

Ted Blom said on Monday the lack of maintenance involving Eskom’s generating may mean South Africans will be forced to endure load shedding for the next five years.

Blom explained this was due to problematic units being patched, instead of completely repaired. Read more here: SA could have load shedding for next five years

Meanwhile, President Cyril Ramaphosa said South Africans should not lose hope because “there will be light at the end of this brief tunnel”.

Ramaphosa on Monday said he was confident the utility’s management would deal with breakdowns at its power plants.

Additional outages in Tshwane

In a statement on Monday, the metropolitan municipality said load shedding would “significantly disrupt” the electrical infrastructure of the city.

This can lead to power surges due to the overloading of the system. Tshwane councillor Phillip Nel said: “[This happens] especially when [load shedding] ends”.

Nel, who is in charge of utility services and regional utility operations and coordination, explained that the municipal electrical distribution systems across the country were not designed for load shedding conditions.

Additional reporting by Nica Richards

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