“Even on Xmas?”: Eskom Implements Load Reduction in 6 Provinces, SA Gatvol

• With Christmas day looming, power utility Eskom has announced load reductions in at least six provinces
• The electricity provider says it's trying to avoid networking overloading in high-intensity areas and give the grid a break
• South Africans, however, are really disappointed by the news and think Eskom of really wrong for implementing power cuts on Christmas

Taking to its official Twitter account last night, Eskom has just announced load reduction notices for six provinces, including Gauteng, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Free State, the Northern Cape and the North West Province.

The powercuts are scheduled to take place between 5 am and 9 am on Christmas day but times could vary from one province to another.

This comes as powercuts in KZN continue due to recent storms, eNCA reports.

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In the statement, the power utility says it's trying to prevent network overloading in high-density areas.

Naturally, the news of powercuts on Christmas had many peeps triggered in the comments section. Many South Africans were genuinely shocked by the poor service delivery:

@Tshepo_manoto said:

"On Xmas day you guys have no mercy shame."

@sumi_mahomed said:

"I’m not sure how load reduction will be implemented in Pietermaritzburg when most people still don’t have electricity."

@BraBiza465 said:

"Lol ka Christmas??? Guys have le serious."

Kloofsig substation fire leaves residents in the dark, 2nd day with no power

In related news, Briefly News previously reported that residents in Kloofsig, Pretoria have not had electricity for two days due to a fire at a substation that cut off the area's power supply.

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Fire at Pretoria substation leaves Kloofsig in the dark, residents without electricity for 2 days

The City of Tshwane released a statement saying that Kloofsig's power should be back by mid-morning today (23 December), but they added that the timing is just an estimate and is not guaranteed.

In their statement, the municipality said that their teams worked all night to restore the electricity supply and that they will first test the repaired power cables before switching on the area's electricity to ensure the problem has properly been fixed.

How the restoration of power to Kloofsig will work

News24 reports that the fire started in the early hours of the morning yesterday (22 December) at Centurion's Kloofsig substation. The fire resulted in severe damage to the substation before it was extinguished.

The City of Tshwane said that they are busy investigating what caused the fire. They repaired the cables by midnight but needed to conduct extensive testing before the electricity supply could be restored.

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The municipality said that it will keep residents updated as to when their power will be restored. At the time of publishing, the electricity in Kloofsig had not yet been turned back on.

Reactions to Pretoria substation fire

@Ahmed22191214 asked:

"Substation fires are increasing exponentially. Are they soft targets for saboteurs?"

@Jacodc40 said:

"Coincidence? I think not! Cape Town first, now Pretoria: sabotage or coordinated attack?"

@GatvolinSA shared:

"It's day 2 and it's raining. Power is still not available. I have medicine that needs to be kept cool. What is Tshwane's view on this?"

@lootgous asked:

"Please let us know: what is the cause of these fires?"

@Nolz_ml said:

"Thought I was the only one."

Source: Briefly News