Jirisha Naicker, a resident of Douglasdale, has raised ongoing concerns about repeated electricity outages in the area, with incidents stretching back to May last year.
The concerns were formally put to Eskom after Naicker kept a detailed log of power cuts, including several reference numbers issued when faults were reported.
According to records from Naicker, shared with Eskom by Fourways Review, Douglasdale experienced multiple power outages between May and November, including incidents on May 7 and 25, August 21, several dates in September, and late October and November.
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In response, Eskom acknowledged the recurring interruptions and explained that electricity supply disruptions can occur for a range of reasons. “There are various factors that result in electricity supply interruptions,” Eskom said.
“There is planned supply interruption while we conduct maintenance on our infrastructure, and there are unplanned supply interruptions, which may be because of a technical fault, network failure, electricity theft, or network overloading.
“In the case of Douglasdale, the outages on our records were due to cable faults.”
The power utility added that it regularly undertakes planned maintenance on its distribution network to uphold the safety, reliability, and efficiency of electricity supply, noting that this work includes network strengthening and the installation of smart meters.
While such maintenance is communicated to customers in advance, Eskom cautioned that unforeseen outages can still occur. “Our teams remain committed to restoring power swiftly and safely whenever the outages do occur.”
Responding to questions about whether certain parts of Douglasdale are more severely affected than others, Eskom said that there were no specific areas that were more severely affected than others.
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Eskom also outlined how fault reports from residents are handled once logged.
“When residents log a fault and receive a reference number, the report is captured into Eskom’s fault management system and prioritised based on the number of customers affected, the nature and severity of the fault, safety risks to the public or infrastructure, and the availability of technical crews and access to the affected site.”
It added that multiple reports for the same fault are consolidated under a single incident to speed up restoration and avoid duplication.
On the issue of long-term solutions, Eskom said it continues to carry out planned maintenance on the distribution network to uphold the safety, reliability, and efficiency of electricity supply to try to avoid outages, but did not provide a specific timeline for resolving recurring issues in Douglasdale.
“Eskom conducts public awareness on various electricity issues affecting our customers, and continues to work on improving communication, particularly for prolonged or recurring interruptions, to ensure residents receive clearer and more timely updates.”
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