As most South Africans brace and bemoan Stage 4 load shedding starting at 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon, some parts of Randburg, Johannesburg have now been without power for over 30 hours uninterrupted.
Suburbs in Randburg such as Bromhof, Boskruin, Northwold, and Sonneglans, have been without power since 3 am Monday morning, when snow and icy temperatures befell the area.
The greater Randburg area has seen nearly 600 complaints from residents, Joburg City Power said in a statement on Tuesday.
It said one in 10 complaints were residents complaining about no power for over 24 hours, yet power has not been restored.
The Randburg area currently has over 90 plants out of service.
“During these cold weather conditions, in the past two days, the following substations have been experiencing regular trips due to overload, affecting the Randburg, Olivedale, and Northriding substations.
“The substations have plants that are out of service, resulting in regular trips when the load on the network is too high.
“These challenges delay the restoration process as it takes longer to stabilise the load on the network,” said the city's power utility.
City Power said teams had been deployed to replace cables.
On Monday night, City Power said a night shift team would be deployed to restore power. However, by 1 pm Tuesday, power had yet to be restored.
Meanwhile, as of 12 pm on Tuesday, City Power reported another outage at a Randburg servicing plant, this time at the Bordeaux Substation.
City Power has said operators will be dispatched to this area only after the Randburg Substation outage work has been completed.
Meanwhile, frustrated Randburg residents have flooded City Power on social media, calling for power.
Block 14 guys please. We need power
— Mt03Gaming (@Mt03Gaming) July 11, 2023
What is the ETA? We have effectively had no power since 6am
— Nad (@cre8vethinker) July 11, 2023
Can we get an update on Bromhof please??? ETR?? ANYTHING???
— Lebogang Mmuki Tloubatla (@Lebo_Tloubatla) July 11, 2023
Can u not call on more operators to come in seeing that most of Joburg is out due to faults? Waiting for one team to make rounds to all reported faults is inefficient and doesnt show the urgency the situation requires!
— Nokukhanya Pat Mla (@patmlanduli) July 11, 2023
Block 14 specifically Strydom Park, has been without power since 3am Monday when is it going to be fixed? We need someone to let us know when this is going to be resolved.
— Diego (@caseyjay10) July 11, 2023
Do you only have one team.Totally unacceptable.
— mike gee (@crghm) July 11, 2023
BLOCK 14 HAS BEEN OFF FOR 36 HOURS AND YOU GUYS THINK WE ARE ON? DISGUSTING. HONESTLY I SPEAK SHAME OVER EVERY SINGLE CITY POWER AND ESKOM OFFICIAL.
— Blessing Mokwoeng (@ZacharyMack14) July 11, 2023
That's what u said at 08:43
— Pray for South Africa❤🕯🇿🇦🕯🕊❤ (@TaniaNJD) July 11, 2023
Don't u have any latest updates yet?
Surely, if ur Operators were dispatched then, they should be able to give feedback? There r vulnerable people using oxygen tanks. This prolonged power outage - without any ETR, is not good 😐 pic.twitter.com/mdCz7bvJhM
No power since 3am YESTERDAY in Sonneglans. Come on guys
— Sarah Collier (@Sarah_A_Collier) July 11, 2023
Current outages in the Randburg area include Bromhof, Boskruin, Sonneglans, Blairgowrie, Fontainebleau, Ferndale, Hoogland, Northriding, Kyasand, Northriding AH, Johannesburg North, and surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, for those who do have some electricity, City Power has called on residents to use it sparingly.
“Please keep appliances such as geysers, heaters, stoves, and Solar/UPS battery chargers unplugged to reduce the burden on the grid to avoid regular outages,” it said.
IOL