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Many power outages in different parts of the country, especially in Gauteng, are caused by overloading which is the result of illegal connections and non-payment. The power frequently goes out at about the same time on cold winter nights.

The network overloads because too many people are trying to use a network which is designed for one household per stand. Also, customers who are not paying for their electricity tend to be wasteful in the way they use it. Eskom install fuses or Circuit Breakers that switch off when the load gets to dangerous levels, thus preventing the transformer from exploding. Sometimes residents bypass these safety features and the transformer does explode. Not only is this danger, but these transformers may take hours or days to repair.

Eskom remains concerned about the safety of the communities which may be at risk due to the escalating number of illegal connections, meter bypassing or tampering (Electricity theft) and vandalism to electricity infrastructure.

Every year, innocent lives are lost as a consequence of the unsafe use of electricity, particularly in the form of illegal connections.  We believe that one injury or fatality as a result of the unsafe use of electricity is one too many.  We have identified that the biggest contributors to electrical accidents, injuries, and fatalities are contact with low-hanging conductors, unsafe connections, vandalism, illegal power connections and cable theft.

Residents and businesses regularly connect to the Eskom network illegally, and not only is this dangerous for the individual making the connection, but it also puts the rest of the community at risk.  In addition, illegal connections and electricity theft cause unnecessary power failures/outages that overstretch our resources slowing down our service delivery to legal power users. Eskom has found that most people understand that connecting illegally can be dangerous, but they continue to use illegal connections.

Due to the fact that illegal users believe that they are getting “free electricity” there is no incentive for them to use electricity responsibly and efficiently .This leads to overloading and instability of the electricity network, especially during peak times. Eskom wants to remind all South Africans that, although electricity is an essential part of life, it can be dangerous if not used correctly.  Remember that only Eskom employees and authorised contractors can work on networks, meters and substations.

We are doing our best to minimise incidents of faults and restoration times, however due to the nature of an electrical network, these can occur at any time. Eskom is busy with programmes that will need the support of the community in implementing them which would also assist in dealing with these outages.

Safety is a major concern and we urge customers:

• not to bypass circuit breakers in houses because this it not only dangerous but also causes trips for the bigger area supplied from the same transformer
• not to tamper with electrical boxes
• not to supply other customers from your house  as this will overload your supply.

Customers supplied by Eskom are encouraged to report all electricity outages to 0860037566 and obtain information on the status of supply on our website www.eskom.co.za.

We will continue to provide regular updates on the state of the power system through various media platforms.

Issued by Eskom