Johannesburg mayor Mpho Phalatse is correct to ask Eskom for a load shedding reprieve to allow the city’s overworked maintenance crews to catch up after the recent serious storm damage.
A similar breathing space was granted to eThekwini this year after floods devastated large swathes of KwaZulu-Natal.
Joburg’s City Power says its teams are struggling to attend to outages, which is the reason multiple areas across the city have been without electricity for days.
But, apart from the vicissitudes of nature, the municipal power utility is also having to cope with malevolent human behaviour.
ALSO READ: Phalatse requests load shedding reprieve as City Power drowns in outages
Cable theft is raging out of control – mainly because there seems no effort on the part of the police to deal with it. In addition, there is vandalism and attempted theft, which also damages systems and infrastructure.
Worst, though, is the fact that, in certain parts of the city, the electricity maintenance teams are threatened or robbed by members of the community.
It has got so bad that City Power has refused to send its technicians to some places at night and some areas altogether.
One thing is crystal clear: Joburg’s electricity system is on the point of collapse.
We need all the help we can get. Are you listening, Eskom?
ALSO READ: Gauteng storm may have been a tornado, says meteorologist
