CITY OF JOHANNESBURG PLANS TO TAKE OVER ELECTRICITY SUPPLY FROM ESKOM

The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Geoff Makhubo has started engagements with Eskom to find a lasting solution to the current electricity supply crisis. The Municipality is in talks with the Power Utility with a view of taking full control of supply in areas such as Ivory Park, Orange Farm and Diepsloot.

Makhubo revealed this in his State of the City Address in the Braamfontein Council Chambers on Tuesday. Makhubo said that there’s continuous electricity supply disruption for extended periods in these townships which has become a serious concern to his administration. The Greater Ivory Park area which includes Kaalfontein, Ebony Park, Rabie Ridge and Lindokuhle almost always faces an electricity crisis when it’s the winter season.

During the winter season last year, numerous transformers across Kaalfontein, Allandale, Ebony Park (KAE) and surrounding areas failed leaving thousands of households in the dark for weeks on end. The electricity supply in the Greater Ivory Park area, save for Rabie Ridge, is controlled by Eskom.

Eskom has not been helpful in assisting communities who have had recent transformer failures. The community of Ebony Park Ext. 2 has not had electricity for more than a month at the time of publishing. No feedback or update from Eskom has been forthcoming.

It is envisaged that after the Mayor’s engagement with Eskom, the Electricity supply for Ivory Park, Orange Farm and Diepsloot will fall under the City of Johannesburg municipal entity, City Power.

In related news, no load reduction is expected in KAE and surrounding areas this week. Next Load Reduction is scheduled for the 12th of May 2021 from 05:00 until 09:00 in the morning. Load Reduction is implemented by Eskom in “high density areas” with instances of illegal connections and meter bypassing to avoid network overloading.