Parts of the City of Tshwane have been experiencing prolonged power outages due to complications caused by repeatedly switching the electricity supply on and off.
On Thursday evening, the City said Eskom's announcement of stage two load-shedding was likely to have a negative effect on electricity infrastructure, as it was not designed to be switched on and off repeatedly.
"Some of our major concerns are tripping and damage to our electricity grid due to load-shedding," the City's spokesperson, Sipho Stuurman, said in a statement.
In anticipation of power outages, the Energy Electricity Department, Regional Operations and Coordination Department are on standby and will work to restore electricity supply as speedily as possible, according to the City.
"... most damage occurs when the electricity is restored and all geysers, pumps, stoves, etc. start simultaneously. This causes an abnormal surge of electricity that can sometimes go high enough to trip a circuit breaker," it added.
The City has urged residents to limit the negative effects of load-shedding by switching off appliances and any other high-energy consuming machinery during load-shedding.
"The City has managed to ensure that the Wapadrand and Kentron supply areas are excluded from load-shedding due to the vulnerabilities of our infrastructure in these areas. Regrettably, we were not able to get the same approval to suspend load-shedding at Mooikloof," said Stuurman.
Meanwhile, the Rooihuiskraal area has been experiencing a water outage.
The City assured residents that repairs to a burst water pipe, which affected the supply to parts of Rooihuiskraal and Hennopspark, were concluded timeously.
"Unfortunately, when water was opened (sic) into the network the pipe dislocated, resulting in a second burst. Technicians are currently attending to it."
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