Page 8 - AfrElec Week 50 2022

AfrElec PERFORMANCE AfrElec

Johannesburg appeals for urgent

exemption from power outages

SOUTH AFRICA THE City of Johannesburg, South Africa’s com- quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
mercial capital, has asked national power utility “It is a simple fact that power lines and infra-
Eskom for a three-day exemption from continu- structure cannot be worked on when there is no
ing power cuts, known locally as load shedding, power,” he said, adding that cable theft increases
to enable the authorities to stabilise supply amid exponentially during blackouts.
adverse weather conditions. The Executive Mayor, Councillor Mpho Pha-
Flooding after recent heavy rains has dam- latse, has accordingly on behalf of City Power
aged power infrastructure and the city is una- submitted an urgent request to Eskom for exclu-
ble to keep up with repairs, Environment and sion from load shedding for a period of 72 hours
Infrastructure Services Department Councillor to clear the current and increasing backlog, Sun
Michael Sun said in a statement on December said as quoted by Independent Online (IOL).
12, Bloomberg reports. City Power confirmed that its operators con-
The struggling power utility is currently tinue to work tirelessly, and all available technical
removing 5,000MW from the national elec- skills have been deployed. However, threats and
tricity grid, resulting in outages of at least two intimidations of technicians are reported daily,
hours three times a day. According to the media Sun said as he appealed for the general public’s
agency, the city is dealing with more than 4,000 assistance in keeping workers safe so everyone
service calls regarding damage to infrastructure may get through the crisis together.
that has left some areas without power for days. “To vandalise infrastructure such as mini-sub
“Given the urgent need for City Power to stations to vent the anger of power outages will
attend to the widespread and escalating faults, only delay restoration even longer and put hun-
the entity has expressed its concern that load dreds of other residents in the dark,” Sun added.
shedding is not only causing to additional faults Stage 5 load shedding is currently being
and stress on the network, but also preventing implemented by Eskom across the country,
the entity from being able to effectively attend to writes IOL.™
the outages and to stabilise the situation,” Sun is

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 50 14•December•2022