Power cuts could go on for months due to illegal connections – Eskom

In a stern warning to the public, power utility Eskom says those who continued to connect illegally to the network could delay power restoration for up to three months.

The power utility has been fielding recurring outages, a result of ongoing maintenance to several areas, where some areas were left in the dark for days.

Eskom now warns that a complete audit of failed equipment which has been scheduled to replace failed equipment could take months considering there was a growing number in illegal connections which overloaded the networks.

Eskom noted the rising number in vandalism of pole-mounted transformers and mini-substations, which as a result led to network overloading.

Due to the backlog of equipment failure coupled with apparent community resistance, it may take up to three months to repair and restore supply after the full audit process is completed, Eskom said.

Before transformers are fixed or replaced, they undergo a strict process of electricity audits in order to steer clear of repeated damage.

This comes as Eskom has announced that it will be implementing load reduction in severely affected areas and this would continue until Wednesday.

“We are implementing load reduction from 5am-9am to avoid network overloading in high-density areas that are prone to illegal connections, meter bypasses and vandalism of electricity infrastructure.”

“During the load reduction, customers are urged to switch off all their electrical appliances to avoid power surges when power returns. Failure to do so may lead to transformer trips or failures, and damage to household appliances when power is restored.”

Eskom warns customers of criminals posing as its employees and demanding cash payments for reconnections, replacement of equipment etc.

Please report related criminal activities to Eskom Crime Line 0800 11 27 22 (toll-free) pic.twitter.com/82uqr8PyVA

— Eskom Hld SOC Ltd (@Eskom_SA) July 22, 2020