Unscheduled power disruptions have started again, resulting in Mbombela residents demanding answers from the municipality.

The communities which receive electricity from the City of Mbombela (CoM) have been experiencing additional power cuts without being informed in advance.

This includes areas exempt from load‐shedding. Delta Substation was off three times in the past 14 hours without the community being informed of the reason for the situation.

DA ward councillor Sanley van der Merwe said load‐reduction was a national instruction from Eskom and applied countrywide. She stressed that it was not the municipality switching the power on and off, but Eskom’s national control. All areas in Mbombela are currently subjected to load‐reduction.

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“Areas where the system is under severe pressure will see Eskom switch off power to prevent a total blackout. This is done without prior notice to the municipality. Delta is exempt from normal load‐shedding, but not from load‐reduction. Most of our critical infrastructure feeds from the Delta grid,  such as the pump stations. Subjecting that area to load‐reduction will mean we will not only be without power, but could also experience severe water restrictions. The grid is too weak to handle the constant on and off switching, and this could result in total failure when everyone is without power and water,” she said.

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CoM mayor, Sibongile Makhushe, said they had a meeting with Eskom yesterday,  Wednesday December 21, about controlling load‐shedding.

“However the power utility  informed the municipality that if the grid is under pressure nationally, Eskom will switch off supply to try and stabilise the grid as an emergency measure without any prior notification,” she said