Durban - The eThekwini Municipality has developed a revised load-shedding schedule aimed at lessening the impact of the country’s power shortages on the city’s economy.
It takes effect on April 7.
The revised schedule will be sent out to the public with the service’s accounts, posted on the city’s social media sites and its website, and publicised using advertisements in print and on the radio.
At a meeting on Friday, when business, labour and city officials met to discuss solutions to the electricity crisis, city manager Sibusiso Sithole announced that the revised schedule would be implemented because the “proper functioning of the city was now at risk”.
He said the aim was to lessen the impact on the economy, society and the environment.
The city, together with all the representatives at the meeting, formed a continuity forum which will meet regularly to make sure there is an integrated and collaborated response to the impact of the power cuts.
Warning
Members of the forum were tasked at the meeting with identifying the areas where collaboration would minimise load shedding’s impact and agree on action to shield job losses.
Sithole said the aim was to synchronise the load shedding schedule to support business activities in the city and improve advanced warning and communication relating to scheduled power cuts.
Andrzej Kiepiela, of the KZN Growth Coalition, urged the city to develop a communication strategy that would make sure the messages from the national “war room” were distributed. “Business needs to know exactly what is happening so they can plan better.”
Douglas Comrie, who represented the manufacturing sector, said business was willing to assist the city with voluntary reductions in electricity use, voluntary changes in shift configurations and investment in green energy generation and related technologies.
According to the city, Eskom’s focus was to prevent a national blackout and load shedding was used in emergencies to balance the capacity to provide power.
Sithole said the city would spearhead the forum, drive implementation of solutions offered and feed those to the national “war room”.
“This means there will be better communication. Other proposals are to drive energy saving more intensely, explore alternative energy sources and implement all demand management strategies,” he said.
It was critical that the city’s economy not be derailed.
The Mercury