Higher levels of load-shedding have a negative effect on the electricity network and infrastructure, and it inhibits the ability to attend to outages.
The City of Tshwane electricity networks were never designed for load-shedding and therefore continuously switching the network on and off has a major damaging impact on the infrastructure.
Residents should be aware that the combination of higher levels of load-shedding day after day, week after week is disastrous to the network. Consequently, the City is experiencing challenges when restoring the power after the scheduled load-shedding period.
In a media statement, the City said the reality is that the City’s resources are severely stretched by having to continuously switch the electricity on and off in the various regions of Tshwane. The same team that implements Eskom’s load-shedding plays a critical role in the repair and maintenance of the electricity network. This means that during this rolling blackout period, the City of Tshwane teams will have significantly less time available to work on restoring electricity outages that are not related to load-shedding.
Despite these challenges, the City said the electricity teams are committed to ensuring that the City restores all power outages as speedily as possible.
The City called on residents to help limit the adverse effects of load-shedding by switching off appliances during load-shedding and only leaving a light on to let you know when the power returns.
Residents are advised to only turn appliances back on after some time has passed (10 to 20 minutes). This will assist in avoiding high energy surges that often cause the circuit breakers to trip in some areas.
The City will monitor the situation closely and ensure that it responds swiftly to all electricity network challenges that arise due to high levels of load-shedding.