​The MMC for Environment and Infrastructure Services, Mpho Moerane has apologised to residents of Johannesburg affected by power outages during the cold front this past weekend.

Several areas of Johannesburg experienced unplanned outages due to the overloading of the network caused by the high demand for electricity. The situation was worsened by illegal connections that are mushrooming in most areas across the City. As a result, some electrical outages were only restored after more than 36 hours.

The suburbs hardest hit include Rabie Ridge in Midrand, where mini-substations faulted due to overloading. In Klipfontein, two mini-substations burnt down due to illegal connections.

Various areas in the city centre also experienced intermittent power outages, says Moerane.

There were multiple cable faults in Eldorado Park, which plunged the area into darkness for most parts of the weekend, and a mini-substation blew up due to illegal connections in Coronationville.

Other outages due to overloading happened in Tshepisong, Thembelihle, Vlakfontein, the Joburg CBD and Lenasia. 

“On Sunday there was a big power outage affecting close to 10 substations feeding most of the south. This after an 88kv circuit breaker blew up at Orlando substation. Some areas, especially around Lenasia and Ennerdale could not be restored on time as they tripped due to inrush current," Moerane explains.

He says City Power teams, which were stretched by the increase in outages worked around the clock to restore power.

"While over 2 000 calls were logged every day throughout the weekend, there were fewer calls by Monday morning (15 June 2020), as most of the issues were addressed," he says. 

Municipal customers are urged to use electricity sparingly by switching off nonessentials during peak hours. 

The City has, in the meantime, engaged the services of Kelvin power station, a private supplier to handle the increasing demand for electricity.

“Resources have been increased in areas that are prone to unplanned outages to ensure a quicker response time. As part of the winter plan, generation at Kelvin power station has been increased from 90 to 250 megawatts to meet the winter demand," Moerane says.

Illegal connections remain a major problem for the City and cost the municipality millions of rand in lost revenue. The removal of illegal connections will be intensified across the City in the coming days, the MMC vows.

He says budgets have been made available to deal with ageing infrastructure, build more substations and undertake regular maintenance. 

"We appeal for calm from our residents as we address some of the challenges that were caused by the affected power supply this past weekend," he says.