Repeated power failures due to overloading and illegal connections
South Africa: Eskom has noted a significant rise in network overloading resulting from illegal connections across the high density areas of Gauteng.
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South Africa: Eskom has noted a significant rise in network overloading resulting from illegal connections across the high density areas of Gauteng.
This overloading is also apparent in the areas with multiple or backyard dwellings, bypassed meters, and vandalism of the electricity infrastructure. These illegal connections and tempering with Eskom equipment result in damages to electrical infrastructure such as transformers, mini-substations, and substations in these areas.
The illegal connections, meter bypasses, and other theft-related activities on Eskom’s infrastructure continue to be the leading cause for the sporadic and prolonged electricity interruptions, which leave the communities without power for days. Eskom is not in a position to continually repair damaged equipment caused by overloading and illegal connections.
The company continues to monitor the network in real time, and continues to safeguard its assets by auditing, removing illegal connections and fixing bypassed meters in an effort to protect the network to operate optimally according to design capacity.
Eskom requests customers’ cooperation in keeping the networks safe in order to supply electricity without interruptions.
Source: Eskom