Eskom’s winter call: Empower your community, protect transformers, and cherish life by participating in the ‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign
Thursday, 16 May 2024: Over 2000 transformers across the country are overburdened due to illegal connections and tampering, which leads to overloading and explosions. This situation can result in extended periods without electricity in communities. As the winter season approaches and temperatures plummet, Eskom is launching a campaign under the theme ‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives.’
In the past 12 months, Eskom has spent over R300 million replacing failed transformers and mini substations, without any revenue for its efforts. This threatens its ability to deliver on its mandate to supply quality electricity to its customers.
The call-to-action campaign urges electricity users to reduce their consumption to ease the load on the power system and prevent related injuries. Several safety incidents and equipment failures are directly linked to these unlawful activities. They not only endanger lives but also disrupt supply continuity and cause extensive damage to transformers and related infrastructure. Illegal connections, network equipment theft, vandalism, meter bypasses, unauthorised network operations, purchasing electricity from illegal vendors, and indiscriminate electricity use significantly burden network equipment.
As the load increases, transformers can fail and explode, posing serious safety risks to unsuspecting members of the public, potentially resulting in injuries and fatalities. The failure of transformers, mini-substations, and other equipment also causes great inconvenience to customers, as replacements can take days to months, given the frequency of such damages.
Members of the public can contribute to the ‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign by refraining from illegal connections and promoting responsible energy practices. This will help protect lives, safeguard property, and maintain the reliability of the electrical infrastructure
ENDS
