Frustration mounts among North Coast residents over persistent power outages despite loadshedding suspension
The KwaDukuza Municipality conceded there were frequent issues on its grid, but were hopeful that recent interventions will increase grid stability and quicken response times when faults occur."
Residents across the North Coast are frustrated by repeated power outages since the suspension of loadshedding.
Responding to a Courier question on Facebook, residents across KwaDukuza reported regular outages which sometimes take as long as a week to fix.
Many communities have been unable to properly enjoy the most sustained period without loadshedding since at least 2021 – some 125 days consecutively.
Sheffield residents Naomi van der Merwe, Jacques Lotriet and Kimberley Pitt said outages were a weekly occurrence.
Etete resident Ashmitha Sewpal complained of a recent day-long breakdown during which residents received no communication from the KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) electrical department.
Fellow Etete local, Priscilla Naicker, reported outages as a consistent problem.
“It happens often. The frustrating part is that it is the same issue, which only needs a quick fix, every time,” she said.
“Sometimes the solution, which only takes around half an hour of work, will take days to get to.”
The KwaDukuza Municipality (KDM) conceded there were frequent issues on their grid, but were hopeful that recent interventions will increase grid stability and quicken response times going forward.
What is causing the outages?.
Photo: KwaDukuza Municipality.
KDM lists three breakdown categories.
• Underground cables: Issues in cabling are typically a result of theft/vandalism or overloading. Theft/vandalism is much more common during periods of high loadshedding, while overloading is typically associated with illegal connections placing higher pressure on specific areas.
• Overhead lines network: The network is sometimes affected by ageing infrastructure and when electricity poles fall, but it is more commonly a result of falling trees, fires and accidents with poles. This is particularly common in more rural areas of the municipality.
• Substations/mini substations: This is the part of electrical infrastructure most affected by ageing.
Loadshedding caused lots of switching surge and overloading which contributed to loss of equipment and KDM has been forced to institute planned maintenance to fix it.
When combined with the increase in usage across KwaDukuza, planned maintenance at substations has become and will continue to be increasingly frequent going forward.
In Ballito, for example, residents will recall five days of recent planned outages because work was being done on the Ballito substation.
That work included installation of new 33kV circuit breakers and replacement of an archaic 11kV oil circuit breaker with vacuum circuit breakers.
Refurbishment of the main 33kV power transformers will need to be done later this year and will help to increase the Ballito substation’s stability going forward.
What interventions are being done?
The long-awaited first launch of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system was held last week.
It is currently undergoing testing and configuration, which is expected to be complete by the end of August.
That does not mean it will be fully online however, as KDM has applied for an extension to the scope of work for another year at an extra cost of around R9-million.
This will allow for installation of radio communication, which was initially left off the project because of funding limitations, while also giving more time to train specialised staff.
Further work will also allow for KwaDukuza’s three major hospitals to be individually switched so that they could potentially be exempted from loadshedding when it returns.
Once fully online, the SCADA system will allow enhanced monitoring of the grid and remote operation. This should improve response times to outages as they can be immediately detected and isolated, rather than needing to be found manually.
Aside from SCADA, the municipality is also prioritising staffing of the electrical department, which is currently running at a 41% vacancy rate. Eight electricians were hired this year and are currently undergoing on-the-job training.
Network upgrades, like at Ballito, are being done across the municipality and almost R33-million has been budgeted for in the current financial year.
Further systems are also being put in place to directly link residents and the department, which should one day provide for instant outage information sent to those affected.
A series of meter audits, awareness campaigns and technological upgrades are also being planned, as well as a long-promised energy indaba.
It is hoped that this will all help to curb outages, as well as electricity losses at the municipality, which reached R314.5-million in the last financial year.
If you have an outage, you can contact KDM’s electricity contact centre at 032 437 5081, or send a WhatsApp to 060 900 3908.
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