Residents are fighting against “unfair” power cuts!

Residents of Eldorado Park are struggling with power supply issues. Photo from iStock

Residents of ELDORADO Park, south of Joburg, say they are the only ones to benefit from City Power’s winter load reduction, while other communities continue to enjoy uninterrupted power supply.

Ward councilor Dwain Ponsonby said Daily sunshine It has been brought to the attention of ward councilors that Eldorado Park is particularly affected by what is known as “load reduction” under the guise of load shedding.

“Load shedding has been suspended and automatically Eldorado Park must suffer for the whole country. Every day, without fail, Eldorado Park takes a trip that is always reported as an overload, even in summer, leaving residents without power for hours , or even days, with no communication or accountability from City Power,” Ponsonby said.

He highlighted the lack of consideration for residents who rely on medical equipment such as oxygen and ventilators.

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“Residents of Wilmort Court have suffered a power outage due to a cable fault for 10 consecutive days. Similarly, Park Street faced endless electricity problems, leaving residents powerless for the same amount of time.

“As of June 14, 2024, only the Nancfield substation experienced a load reduction, while Eldorado Park substation did not, raising questions about the fairness of load reduction practices.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said electricity consumption in Joburg had reached critical levels, requiring strict measures to avoid a total collapse of the grid.

“These measures include intensified use of wave relay systems to cut off power supply to geysers in threatened houses, reduction of load at high consumption substations and intensification of cutting operations against connections illegal,” Mangena said.

He said the decision to initiate load reduction followed extensive efforts to encourage efficient use of electricity among customers. Despite these efforts and warnings about grid constraints, demand for electricity in the city continues to increase.