Local news

Ballito braces for eight-hour daytime blackouts next week

Residents of Ballito's wards six and 30, including Simbithi and Zimbali areas, will endure lengthy eight-hour power outages as maintenance work ramps up.

Ballito’s wards six and 30, inclusive of Simbithi and Zimbali areas, will face punishing eight-hour daytime electricity blackouts over three days from next week.

The lengthy shutdowns between 8am and 4pm will be implemented on Thursday and Friday next week, as well as the following Monday.

Mainly this will affect the residential areas between Zimbali in the north and Simbithi Drive in the south.

The Ballito business park and Compensation areas will not be affected.

The KwaDukuza municipality said the reason for the power interruptions was maintenance and a new switch gear installation.

Ward 6 councillor Tammy Colley said the switch gear would be installed at the Ballito substation to allow for the completion and implementation of the Scada system.

The Scada system will allow the municipality to remotely switch power on and off during loadshedding.

Ward 30 councillor Jack Abrahams said the scheduled maintenance would improve electrical supply between substations.

“With the Dukuza substation scheduled for completion in August, this maintenance will help the affected areas to improve the electrical systems between the substations,” he said.

”This will improve the stability of the grid. Our current grid was not designed to handle loadshedding, so it is hoped that this maintenance will improve the situation.”

Colley said it would not increase supply, but should reduce the number of unnecessary interruptions caused by ageing infrastructure.

KwaDukuza municipality spokesperson Sifiso Zulu said the municipality had adopted its ‘energy masterplan’ in order to tackle the challenges in the provision of electricity to consumers. One of the major challenges identified was ageing infrastructure.

“The urgent maintenance will be undertaken to replace an old oil switchgear with a new vacuum type switchgear. This is part of the broader plan to refurbish the municipality’s strategic substations. To this end, similar work will also be undertaken at Lavoipierre Substation on the north of the network.”

Zulu said that as the town grew, and the demand for services grew, both the infrastructure and systems that would enable it had to be implemented to meet these demands.

“It is envisaged that the project will lead to the safety, reliability and stability of the grid across the municipal area of jurisdiction.”


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Kabelo Pheeloane

Kabelo Pheeloane is a seasoned digital professional with over ten years of experience in social media management, content creation, and paid media across various industries. Currently serving as the Digital Coordinator at The North Coast Courier.
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