Load-shedding could be fatal for those requiring electricity for lifesaving equipment
For people like Leon Britz who relies on medical equipment that needs electricity, the stress of being without power is overwhelming.
Load-shedding has many negative consequences for individuals and more broadly the economy. The effects of having power cuts, often without notice, are profound and almost always negative.
The paper first wrote about the emotional toll load-shedding has on the elderly in an article titled, Elderly bear the brunt of load-shedding [Week ending June 10, 2022]. Since then, the interruptions of power have only become worse.
Leon Britz (62) is dependent on oxygen 24 hours a day for survival after being diagnosed with chronic inflammatory lung disease. His son, Juan spoke of the anguish they feel every time the lights go out, “We have had to resort to running a generator which was kindly loaned to us to keep my dad alive. It is so stressful because without it, in a very short space of time his oxygen levels drop to the 60s, and shortly after then – well I don’t want to think about that.”
The Britz family can’t run the machinery via an inverter as it requires too much power, so it’s a daily struggle and expense to ensure they have enough petrol, the generator is filled and then turned on when the lights go off. “It is especially stressful during the night as we need to take shifts to monitor the generator, and dad because if a disruption happens it will turn bad quickly,” said Juan.
Keshnie Mathi is a wellness counsellor and founder of The Wellness Specialist and lives in Greymont. She explains that “Loadshedding has far-reaching consequences emotionally for everyone, but especially for those who are unwell or vulnerable for whatever reason. The dark has notoriously been known as the time when bad things happen and this causes a lot of fear in individuals. This coupled with the lack of control over how to plan one’s day can be overwhelming.”
Mathi also described how fears around crime are prevalent at the moment as homes and businesses are not protected as efficiently and people can wander the streets unseen at night.
Fairland police station commander Lieutenant Colonel Clive de Freitas confirmed Mathi’s comments, “When load-shedding hits, cameras are down, alarm equipment runs out of battery and opportunistic crimes do happen. It has definitely had a negative impact on crime as criminals are taking advantage of the situation.”
Isaac Mangena, spokesperson for City Power said, “We know this is a tough time for everyone but as City Power, we are doing all we can to ensure some level of stable supply. Load-shedding is not a City Power creation. It’s an Eskom creation which affects all of us, with undesirable effects to our customers and to City Power.”
“Our problems and threats remain, especially the failing equipment due to the frequent on and off during load-shedding, cable theft, and vandalism happening during load-shedding. During load-shedding we are unable to do maintenance, and should it continue, our system may give in.
We appeal for patience from our customers as we try to find our way out of this. The City has plans which will be announced next month on the work we are embarking on to reduce the over-reliance on Eskom.”
City Power provided helpful information for customers to better understand load-shedding
* During stages 1 to 4, all blocks are affected for two hours, with an extra 30 minutes for restoration.
* Stage 5 means one out of five blocks on the schedule will be affected for four hours.
*During Stage 6, the four-hour time period is only for two of the six blocks that are shed.
* During stage 8, four of the 8 blocks will be shed for 4 hours.
City Power customers are urged to allow for an extra 30 minutes for the restoration process to take place. As the supply may be restored at any time, customers are urged to treat their electricity supply points as live at all times.
To allow for a smooth restoration and avoid outages due to overloading, we urge customers to switch off non-essential appliances during load-shedding.
Visit their website www.citypower.co.za for your load-shedding schedule.
Elderly bear the brunt of load-shedding published week ending June 10, 2022
