Metro blames power outages on load-shedding, cold weather, etc.

The Tshwane metro has blamed some power outages in the city on the ongoing cold front, coupled with other reasons.

In a statement, the utilities and regional operations and coordination department said that the cold, ongoing load-shedding, illegal connections, theft and vandalism had caused blackouts in several areas of the metro.

“Certain areas in the western region of Tshwane are experiencing low voltage situations due to system overloads, especially Atteridgeville, Hermanstad, Daspoort and Pretoria Gardens,” said MMC Themba Fosi.

“The extreme cold weather experienced across the country these past few days has caused major trips across the city’s electricity network.”

Parts of Pretoria East, Olievenhoutbosch, Laudium, and Mamelodi have experienced outages of two days or longer.

The metro said that substations in Wapadrand, Mooikloof, Olievenhoutbosch and Laudium have all been affected, and technicians are working round the clock to stabilise the network.

“During the past months of Eskom load-shedding, the city’s electricity network has suffered severe damage. Copper thieves [also] exploited the load-shedding schedule to target substations to steal cables and other equipment. As a result, the City is suffering major financial losses to replace all stolen and damaged cables and equipment,” Fosi said.

“Consumers can experience an unstable power supply.”

The metro also mentioned a recent incident at the Njala substation where thieves made off with a substantial amount of cable, causing damage to the station as a result.

This attack affected areas in Mamelodi, parts of Waltloo and Silverton, as well as Pretoria East.

Repairs to the station will take a few days.

Repairs at Wapadrand, Mooikloof and Mamelodi 1, 2 and 3 can only be done after Njala is attended to.

“The overload on the network is exacerbated by illegal connections. While the city (accompanied by police) regularly conducts removal operations, the extent and scope of illegal connections are simply too big to address effectively,” Fosi concluded.

Residents were asked to use electricity sparingly.

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