South Africa: Load shedding returns in Gauteng

Eskom says Gauteng will be hit by persistent load shedding this weekend due to network disruptions caused by illegal connections in the province.

Some areas in the province, including Mamelodi and Eldorado Park have been without electricity since earlier this week. While residents initially directed these power outages queries to the Johannesburg City Power and the City of Tshwane, Eskom has come out saying that the illegal connections and overloading in the high-density areas of Gauteng are causing the outages.

"Eskom has noted with concern a spike in transformer and mini-substation explosions caused by network overloading as a result of illegal connections, meter bypasses and tampering, as well as theft and vandalism of electricity infrastructure. These explosions lead to prolonged outages, which leave people without electricity for days, and can cause fatal injuries to people," said the power utility in a statement.

The company said due to the unprecedented volumes of damaged infrastructure that needs repairs and replacements, it may not able to carry out the repairs quickly. 

"As such, priority will be given to areas where customers allow Eskom to conduct audits and to remove the illegal connections and to terminate supply to bypassed meters. This will help us to secure the infrastructure against further damages," added Eskom.

In other parts of the country, Eskom has not implemented load shedding since March.

This article originally appeared on News24

Photo: The South African