Load shedding: MMC Sun seeks to loosen Eskom’s grip on City of Joburg

The City of Johannesburg may be forced to endure stage 5 load shedding now, but hope could be on the horizon, the Department of Environment and Infrastructure Services (EISD) said on Saturday.

The breakdown of five generating units overnight on Friday and Saturday morning, with combined capacity of 2 400MW, necessitated the escalation of rolling blackouts to stage 5 until 5am on Monday morning.

Unsustainable energy supply

“These rolling blackouts are making Johannesburg’s ability to provide sustainable energy supply to the city of gold’s residents virtually impossible,” MMC for EISD councillor Michael Sun said.

The “unnecessary” pressure placed on City Power infrastructure due to load shedding makes the network susceptible to faults.

This, combined with unabated cable theft during powerless hours, has often resulted in further unplanned outages and faults.

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City Power engineering services group executive Isaac Rampedi assured technicians would be working overtime this weekend to restore power after load shedding, and to deal with outages owed to cable theft and an overloaded network.

“Load shedding makes our job more difficult, but we won’t submit in the face of these lengthy blackouts,” Rampedi said.

Residents have also been asked to remain vigilant in preventing cable theft, and to report any suspicious behaviour.

“Joburgers can also help by using electricity as sparingly as possible directly before and after blackouts to prevent overloads on the network,” the EISD advised.

Hope on the horizon?

Despite palpable frustration at the continued extension of load shedding stages, Sun alluded to a possible end in sight.

In the next few weeks, Joburg will be launching the framework for the procurement of energy from independent power producers (IEPs), a key move in ending the city’s dependence on Eskom.

“The multiparty government can’t stop load shedding immediately. But we will shield Joburgers from these economic and social disruptions with our plan of actions including the intensifying of security deployment during load shedding,” Sun said.

The blueprint for engaging IEPs will be released next month, which Sun said will “chart the way forward in reducing the abuse our residents are subjected to due to Eskom incompetence.”

Cable theft can be reported to the city by calling 011 490 7553 / 7911, or by sending a WhatsApp to 083 579 4497.

Compiled by Nica Richards.

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