eSikhaleni exempt from load-shedding

The City of uMhlathuze this morning (Friday) announced the exemption of eSikhaleni from load-shedding at 11am today.

The city’s Electrical and Energy Services department said they are aware of how the long power outages are affecting residents.

Long, unscheduled electricity outages since 7pm on Thursday were reportedly the result of load-shedding, a fault, followed by another bout of load-shedding.

“To exempt eSikhaleni from load-shedding at 11am today, please be informed that stage 6 load-shedding will be implemented in Richards Bay between 11am and 1pm,” said the municipality.

“This is due to Eskom’s load-shedding moving to stage 6, as well as the fact that the single feeder at the Eskom Ngwelezana substation trips due to overload.

“We are having similar overload conditions in eSikhaleni and we urge residents to switch off their geysers at the beginning of load-shedding and only switch them back on 15 minutes after load-shedding has ended.

“We are in discussions with Eskom and are doing everything possible to find solutions for the current challenges we are experiencing.

“We requested Eskom to exempt [the affected areas] from load-shedding, but this was declined. We are continuously engaging with Eskom and evaluating each situation.”

Alton North will be affected as a result of the changes, and normal stage 5 load-shedding will resume at 1.30pm.

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