GMM holds the key to power
GMM and Enpower Machite shed light through self- load-shedding in Bethal and eMzinoni.
The community of Bethal and eMzinoni received a statement from Enpower Machite and Govan Mbeki Municipality that they will perform self-load-shedding from April 24.
Bethal and eMzinoni have been bearing the brunt for years because of GMM’s Eskom debt, dilapidating infrastructure, cable theft and cable damages.
Being more in the dark and powerless, residents and businesses had to adapt over the years. Every hour, day and week is unpredictable.
The only schedule locals can rely on is the Eskom load-shedding schedule, because GMM’s load reduction was never on schedule, according to residents and businesses.
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Bethal, like the rest of South Africa, sit with Eskom load-shedding. However, they endure additional power outages, in the form of load reduction, by GMM.
Residents had mixed reactions when speaking to the Ridge Times.
Not wanting their names to be mentioned, they said:
“So far GMM’s load-shedding is going okay. However, it is too soon to tell if this will work in the long run.
“I must say the schedules are being kept so far,” said a resident.
But it would seem not all share the same view.
“I think in certain areas it is going better, however, in Ext 6 and Ext 14 we are experiencing half an hour to an hour more than scheduled.
“When we enquire, we are told the same old story of cable faults or excuses of fuses,” said the resident.
The resident said Eskom load-shedding schedules worked better for her, as she could plan around scheduled times and that GMM is still not sticking to their scheduled times.
Speaking to the Ridge Times, Tess Maroos who is the media spokesperson for Enpower Machite, explained that instead of Eskom switching the power off and on, GMM will be doing the switching with the aid of Enpower Machite.
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“The load-shedding is implemented in accordance with NRS 048-9. Internal GMM load-shedding has since been minimised through the management of the losses.
“This requires the community of Bethal and eMzinoni to commit to the meter roll-out initiative that will stop the abuse of electricity, which in turn calls for internal load reduction,” said Maroos.
She said that GMM will control the schedules and that schedules will be accurate and timed accordingly.
The Ridge Times asked Maroos if there would be more control of the system with GMM’s self-load-shedding. upon which she answered, “Yes, we can manage and control the system.”
Concerns raised by residents are that some areas are going to be throttled for more hours than other areas.
“We have 16 blocks, and we rotate throughout the day and the week so that they experience the same quota,” said Maroos.
The estimated time schedules are Stage 1-4 (two hours) or Stage 6-8 (four hours).
Schedules can be found on the webpages of Eskom, GMM (plus Facebook), and Enpower Machite (also Facebook).
Different areas will have different schedules, according to Maroos. At this stage, Bethal Hospital and Jim Van Tonder School are the only ones spared from load-shedding.
“We will do our best to minimise the impact wherever possible.
“More investment in the infrastructure is required to improve the flexibility of our schedules,” said Maroos.
She did say that Eskom will be monitoring the progress on load-shedding by GMM and Enpower Machite. Should GMM not stick to the agreement, Eskom will take over again.
“Through this process, it enables a qualifying municipality to protect important loads, such as sewerage systems and water pumps, from outages.
“This will enable the municipality to keep at least 60% of the town’s network running without having to completely shut down the town.
“As part of its alignment to NRS048-09, the municipality will ensure that they always have resources for 24/7 switching, in both its control room and on-site,” said Maroos,
She said that during load-shedding, the municipality control room would communicate directly with the Eskom control room.
Customers may contact the call centre on 087 550 0765 for any inquiries.
