Power outages on top of load-shedding has become unbearable
Life is hard enough with load-shedding, but the implications on residents who are unable to afford costly equipment to counter outages are detrimental.
Lara Visnenza-de Beer: It's impossible to plan around load-shedding with all the unplanned outages and trips. We have spent multiple days in a row without power. Leaving us with no communication for work due to flat phones, laptops and power banks. Our food just rots and we cannot cook or afford constant takeaways. We don't have the funds for an inverter, solar panels or generator. It's a nightmare.
The Northcliff Melville Times spoke to four residents about how increased levels of load-shedding are affecting them. Of particular interest was when a local substation trips causing extended periods without electricity.
Here is what they had to say:
Edzard Bosch: The worst part of load-shedding is when we are off for four hours or more. When power returns most people don’t turn off or unplug their high-energy consumption equipment such as geysers, pumps and inverters. This causes trips meaning whole areas can be without power for days at a time. This can be reduced if the community cooperates by turning off their power until 10 mins after power returns.Mukhtaar Areff : I manage a building with about 30 residents who have not had power for two weeks. It went off post-load-shedding and City Power does not come out at all, despite us logging tickets every day. We are a failed state and only bribery and corruption get anything resolved! We are trying to run a clean business but that’s getting us nowhere.Andrew van Wyk: I work from home and have just had a 30-hour outage that was caused by a tripping substation. Literally, two minutes after load-shedding ended we were hit with another outage. This is very frustrating as we cannot afford costly power backups that allow us to work through load-shedding. Fortunately, we have gas for cooking. Our main concern, besides the office equipment not working, is the fridge and geyser that isn’t working.
