While load shedding may be a thing of the past, blackouts still hit many consumers

10 Jul 2024

Eskom’s decision to implement load reduction has highlighted a reality for many South Africans — while energy infrastructure crumbles, electricity access is intermittent.

Eskom has said it has sufficient generation capacity to meet demand and consequently does not have to implement load shedding. However, substations and transformers are coming under strain as electricity consumption surges and “load reduction” is implemented to prevent the strained equipment from damage.

In other words, load reduction is implemented to safeguard the distribution network, while load shedding is implemented to safeguard generation capacity.

Eskom announced this week that due to the strain on its transformers and substations, load reduction would be implemented in parts of Gauteng, Limpopo, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga and North West.

Eskom said load reduction was necessary because of “illegal connections, network equipment theft, vandalism, meter bypasses and tampering, unauthorised network operations and purchasing electricity from illegal vendors”, which cause overloading and pose a risk to human life.

Energy expert Bertha Dlamini said, “Overloading the network can lead to transformer failures, explosions at substations, and other infrastructure damages, potentially causing extended outages in suburbs, towns and regions.

“When the electricity distribution infrastructure is overloaded, it can result in costly damage, extended repair times, and endanger the lives of workers and residents.”

Dlamini said the increased electricity consumption in winter would challenge even the most resilient systems and the system would be under considerable strain during the winter months.

Repeated outages

“Rubbish,” said Phumzile Mthetwa (48) from Jabulani in Soweto, when told this.

“We have been suffering endless power cuts since last year. When power is restored, you can only boil some water but cannot cook because it will not last more than an hour.”

Mthetwa spoke during a period of rising electricity tariffs and other operational costs.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Impoverished Joburgers buckle under new monthly R200 prepaid meter fixed electricity surcharge

Many other residents said they had not benefited from the more than 100 days without load shedding.

“I do not have power. It has been months. When the transformer is fixed, usually months later, it lasts only a few days before it breaks down again,” said Gift Mashinini from Protea South in Soweto.

“Eskom is very soft to its customers. Then they complain that they do not have money. Together with the police, they need to ensure that people pay for what they use and seek new innovative solutions to illegal connections because when they remove the illegal connections, they are back moments later,” said Mashinini.

In response, the utility told Daily Maverick: “Our records indicate only two outages that affected Protea South in 2024. One on 30 May and the last one on 8 July, and supply was restored in both instances.”

Read more in Daily Maverick: As load shedding goes local, the power gap between rich and poor widens

Eskom’s decision to implement load reduction comes less than a month after Johannesburg municipal power provider City Power first implemented load reduction “to prevent total system collapse”.

“We are being taken for a ride,” said Nathan Brown from Eldorado Park. “If there are people that are defaulting or cheating, Eskom … needs to quickly find a way to punish them. I was bewildered to hear the Eskom spokespeople say they have no exclusive system which punishes only the cheats and defaulters. Why should I suffer for services which I religiously pay for? Eskom needs to modernise.”

On Monday, 8 July, some residents of Illovo in Johannesburg told Daily Maverick that they had been battling lengthy power cuts for at least two weeks.

Last week, Eskom attributed the outage in the area to planned maintenance at a substation.

Strain reduction

Keith Duarte, a leader of the Gauteng Housing Crisis Committee, said substations were blowing up because of a lack of maintenance.

Duarte welcomed load reduction as a power conservation measure and said rigorous consumer education was needed to ensure transparency between Eskom and the electricity-consuming public.

“Load reduction should be our first choice where we have identified the highest consumption,” said Duarte.

Eskom said 2,111 of its transformers were frequently overloaded and at risk of damage and that 900 were awaiting replacement.

Overloaded transformers often supplied areas where more than 80% of consumers did not pay for electricity.

“To prevent the strain on the distribution network, municipalities licensed to distribute electricity can apply load reduction. Load reduction targets specific areas and throttles the energy supply, ensuring each household still has electricity, but with limited capacity,” Dlamini, the energy expert, said.

On Monday, Energy and Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said, “We have seen that there is little to no investment that has been made in the replenishing, maintenance, the upkeep, the protection and modernisation of the infrastructure. And, as a result of that, municipalities are under severe strain. And as a result of the severe strain, they then initiate what we call load reduction.”

On Tuesday, Eskom said that in the past, load reduction had reduced equipment failure and outages.

“Over time, Eskom has invested resources and increased capacity to meet the exponential demand in these areas prone to overloading. Despite these investments, the demand has continued to grow, rendering the situation unsustainable.

“Eskom has been engaging with various communities, educating them on the safe and efficient use of electricity. In some areas, Eskom has removed illegal connections; however, network overloading persists.” DM

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