An amended load shedding schedule has been issued by the eThekwini Municipality amid concerns of the country preparing to go up to Stage 10 as the national grid continues to take strain as result of numerous plant breakdowns and scheduled maintainance.
The municipality confirmed, last week, that following lengthy discussions with Eskom, eThekwini will have to rejoin the rest of South Africa when it comes to load shedding. EThekwini had been exempt from the hefty schedule due the repair work that is still being undertaken on the infrastructure that was damaged during the floods in April and May 2022.
“EThekwini has been on a reduced level of load shedding since the April 2022 floods owing to the negative impact of the floods on the City’s electrical network. While the City’s infrastructure is not yet repaired to pre-flood levels, the City acknowledges the country’s need to reduce the load to protect the national grid.
It has therefore become unavoidable for eThekwini to revert to normal load shedding stages as experienced by the rest of the country,” municipal spokesperson, Zimbili Mazibuko said.
She said some suburban block allocations have been amended to accommodate required changes and urged residents to check their suburbs against their new block numbers when the schedule is published.
“Some areas continue to battle with the damage from the floods and as a result, there are certain substations that cannot be switched off as that would pose a significant risk to residents and infrastructure. Areas with a large industrial component have been allocated to Blocks 17 to 20 and will be shut off from Stage 7 upwards for a duration of four hours at a time. This is expected to limit the impact of load shedding on production,” Mazibuko said.
She added: “The schedule has been designed with blocks now having “A” and “B” notation which allows for better load management and control. Blocks up to 16 are residential and commercial blocks. They will have two-hour load shedding at a time. Key industrial nodes are in block 17 upwards and they will have four hours load shedding at a time. Customers are urged to minimise their electricity usage. Customers are also urged to switch off high load appliances during power outages to prevent high waiting loads when the power does return. This will prevent extended outages.”
The amended load shedding schedule comes into effect on 25 May 2023 and has now been published on the city’s communications platforms, including the website. You can also access via https://www.durban.gov.za/…/LoadSheddingSchedule2023.pdf . Residents can report any electricity-related issues by calling 080 3111111; via email to electricity.faults@durban.gov.za or via WhatsApp on 076 791 2449.
