Update: 12.30am, 6 March
While the reasons behind the power outages in Rosebank remain unclear, the Daily Maverick reported an unprotected strike by City Power employees that was affecting parts of Rosebank.
Striking workers face the threat of dismissal as the strike is not backed by their union. City Power reportedly obtained a court interdict compelling striking workers to return to work.
Spokesperson for the South African Municipal Workers Union, Tahir Sema, said the union had first learned about the strike through media reports on Thursday morning.
11.30am, 6 March
On 5 March, power utility Eskom announced that power cuts were eminent after declaring an emergency. Seven days of heavy rain had left coal stocks wet, said spokesperson Andrew Etzinger.
“We have asked our large industrial customers to reduce their consumption by 10 percent, but it appears this will not be enough,” Etzinger told SAPA. The power utility announced on 6 March that rotational load shedding had been put into effect.
Meanwhile, City Power tweeted that Forest Town and Saxonwold were experiencing power loss “due to cable theft,” while another tweet said an MV Distributor Breaker had stopped working. “Our technicians are on-site attending to the problem,” they tweeted.
The power cuts have caused major traffic jams in the area as traffic lights have also been affected by the cuts.
-
-
-
-
