Johannesburg - In a perfect storm, a major substation in City Deep crashed twice over the past 24 hours plunging half the city into darkness and inadvertently saving Eskom 400MW.
City Power is adamant it is not load shedding. Spokesman Louis Pieterse said a technical error happened at the Prospect substation. It was this that caused many north-eastern and southern suburbs to crash on Monday afternoon, he said.
“Power was restored by 10pm, but the substation crashed again at 6am leaving the same areas in darkness.”
Pieterse said technicians were on site. However, he said he did not anticipate power being restored for three to four hours.
The Eikenhof substation was not affected so the water pumping system would not be interrupted, he said.
Problems at the substation contributed to the water shortages in Gauteng recently when Rand Water couldn’t pump water.
The Joburg outage means the city is using 400MW less power than normal – a significant saving for Eskom. One of the six units at the disabled Majuba power station generates about 600MW.
On Tuesday morning, Eskom’s power alert was running on red, which is the second-highest warning level.
Eskom has urged consumers to switch off as much as you can – geysers, stoves, appliances, lights.
Joburg has a difficult week ahead anyway with bad weather predicted.
The SA Weather Service has forecast cloudy and cool weather with widespread showers and thundershowers for Gauteng and warned of flash floods.
If you are cold, Eskom says use a blanket, not a heater.
Traffic on Tuesday morning was heavy as a result of the bad weather and traffic lights being out because of the power cuts.
JMPD spokesman Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said officers had been deployed to many intersections across the city. But he said where there were unmanned intersections, motorists should treat them as four-way stops.
Minnaar said motorists should ensure their tyres and brakes were in good working order with the onset of the rainy season.
“There is a lot of oil on the road surfaces from the dry winter, so people should drive slower because the roads are slippery,” he said.
He also warned motorists against the danger of aquaplaning.
“People shouldn’t slam on brakes if they hit the water – they should hold on to the steering wheel until they are out of it. Primarily, they should not panic,” he said.
In the meantime, residents are rushing to buy generators.
Sales manager of Adendorff Machinery Mart, Brandon Trivett, said the calls began on Monday after Eskom announced load shedding.