Wednesday, 19 February 2020: Eskom has implemented measures to reduce repeated equipment
failures in Tshwane’s Eskom supply areas such as Mabopane, Winterveld and Ga-Rankuwa
which affect the availability of electricity supply.
Earlier this morning we
witnessed some residents of Winterveld protesting and demonstrating against
Eskom’s efforts to reduce its operational costs, curb energy losses and collect
revenue for services rendered as part of our recovery plan to improve our
operations throughout Gauteng and across the whole customer spectrum.
Eskom will only restore
supply to legal and paying customers on condition that the community allows
safe access to Eskom staff to conduct audits and remove illegal connections.
This decision comes after extensive customer and stakeholder engagements across
Gauteng aimed at resolving issues related to electricity services.
The equipment failures
are primarily due to illegal connections which lead to overloading, which in
turn results in the failure of transformers and mini-substations. This is
exacerbated by meter tampering, electricity theft and vandalism of
infrastructure. This has a significantly negative impact on our operations,
finances and the safety of our employees and the public.
If Eskom does not
conduct audits, we run the risk of continued failures without dealing with the
root cause. In some areas, Eskom technicians have not been allowed to conduct
these audits and that causes repeated failures of equipment, which makes power
restoration a wasteful exercise.
Eskom is due to meet
with the community leadership and senior representatives from the Gauteng
Premier’s office to find solutions so that we can resume with our services.
We appeal to communities
to report illegal connections and meter tampering, including when Eskom
employees are involved. The Eskom crime line number is 0800 11 27 22.
ENDS