With the country already on its knees due to load-shedding and Eskom fighting its own battle with striking workers the Rand West City Local Municipality (RWCLM) is now asking even more from residents.
Among the requests include switching off all non-essential equipment even during load-shedding (which consumers don’t always have control over as many are at work when power is restored) and reducing electricity consumption as much as possible (even though consumers have little time to use the electricity they pay for anyway). What choice do we have?
A letter from the RWCLM’s Infrastructure Services Department addressed to all residents, councillors and ward committee members reads as follows:
“The purpose of this letter is to request all residents of RWCLM to switch off all non-essential equipment during load-shedding. Load-shedding is being implemented by Eskom as a result of generation issues that Eskom is unable to curb currently.
We as RWCLM are appealing to all residents in the city to reduce their electricity consumption as much as possible. The reality is that the municipality-owned electricity infrastructure such as medium-voltage switchgear, transformers, cables, circuit breakers etc are taking a severe beating every time there is load-shedding.
“More especially when the electricity supply is restored by Eskom after load-shedding. The municipality-owned electricity infrastructure is not designed for the heavy current that is put through them when a few thousand geysers, stoves and heaters all need to be energised at once.
“The real issue is that in the event that the above-mentioned municipality-owned infrastructure fails, the damage to them will be to such an extent that it will take days if not weeks to repair and restore the electricity supply. Criminals also target municipal infrastructure more frequently during load-shedding as it creates an ideal environment for them to hide, especially after dark.”
They request the residents to assist with the following:
• That all non-essential electrical equipment such as geysers, stoves and heaters be turned off during load-shedding to avoid overloading on municipal infrastructure and ensure that the electricity supply can be restored after each stage of load-shedding during peak hours (from 17:00 to 21:00)
• That residents be vigilant as criminals also become more active during load-shedding and target municipal infrastructure at an alarming rate. Kindly contact the police and do not confront these criminals
