FREQUENT power failures in Durban North and Glenashley have sparked concern for Ward Councillor, Shontel de Boer.
The most recent power outage, on 13 January left residents on Beachway Road in the dark.
This was preceded by a power failure near Landsdowe Crescent on 12 January while the Umgeni Park sub station was affected on 7 January and 28 December. She said the power failures seem to occur after bouts of load shedding.
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“I think it’s all related. Load shedding negatively affects sub stations because of power surges which lead to cable damage,” she said.
Another concern for de Boer was the shortage of replacement cables in stock.
“When I reported the fault, there were no materials in stock and it took a few days to be repaired,” she said.
To compound the problem further, de Boer said the eThekwini Municipality’s call centre was down on 28 December and 5 January, making it impossible for residents to report faults.
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Spokesperson for eThekwini Municipality, Msawakhe Mayisela said the change of season was to blame.
“The eThekwini Electricity Unit has been inundated with network faults due to extremely hot and humid weather conditions. The extreme weather stresses electrical components forcing them to operate at their tolerance limits. In coastal regions like Durban, where our relative humidity is high, moisture ingression in electrical components and cable joints is difficult to control. However, our Technical Research Division is investigating solutions to the spate of recent incidents to improve reliability,” he said.
The eThekwini Municipality did not comment on any long term plans to address the issue.
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