Unscheduled power cuts are beyond the control of the City of Mbombela
Load-reduction has had a negative impact on the provision of basic services like water purification and supply.
The City of Mbombela (CoM) insists that the ongoing load‐reduction is a national instruction from Eskom; the municipality does not switch electricity on and off.
The CoM mayor, Sibongile Makushe, said that the communities that receive electricity from the City of Mbombela have been experiencing additional power cuts without being informed in advance and have been demanding answers from the municipality as the disruptions were unscheduled.
This has also had a negative impact on the provision of basic services like water purification and supply as some areas with critical infrastructure were also added to the schedule without notice.
“We would like appeal for understanding as this is a national challenge over which the City it has no control. The City further reiterates the fact that the outage has nothing to do with its debt to Eskom. The City continues to service its account with Eskom as per the agreed payment plan. To this end, the City’s management would like to apologise to its consumers for the extended outages as it is not always communicated by Eskom,” she said.
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Makhushe said that the city has since written to Eskom and raised this concern as a matter of extreme urgency.
“We are awaiting their response in this regard. Communities are encouraged to utilise an emergency WhatsApp-only number: 079 018 3876,” she said.
