A planned power outage in Macassar had residents hot under the collar when the power supply disruption, which was supposed to last for a mere few hours on Monday 22 January, persisted until Wednesday (24 January).
Macassar resident Jason Cupido sent an email to Eskom to inform the power utility giant how the outage was adversely affecting his household and work operations. “Can I please have some clarity on why our electricity has been off since past 00:00 this morning?” wrote Cupido. “I work from home, and this has caused me unnecessary stress and expenses.”
The email was also submitted to DistrictMail & Helderberg Gazette, which Cupido turned to in hopes of resolving the matter.
Cupido was one of many other residents whose power went off on Monday and was restored only on Wednesday (24 January).
“Macassar has had for the past number of months unscheduled and prolonged power outages,” he pointed out, “and this leads to unnecessary food loss and travelling costs, as I and many others have to travel just to buy new groceries and seek places to charge our devices. Communication to the community has been poor, leaving us all in the dark. Literally.”
Kyle Cookson, Eskom spokesperson, sincerely apologised for the inconvenience caused by the outage. “Eskom operators have completed repairs on the Firgrove/Oklahoma 11 kV line, restoring electricity supply to customers at approximately 02:00 on Wednesday morning (24 January).”
He explained planned outages were scheduled to take place on Monday 22 and Tuesday 23 January, from 08:30 to 16:30, to do line deviations of cables to enable the widening of the section of Macassar Road, between the N2 and the R102.
“Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances out of Eskom’s control, the outage was extended due to a fault on the cable, which was scheduled to be moved on day two of the planned outage.
“Due to load constraints on the network Eskom implemented load rotation to reduce the impact on the customers until repairs were completed and the network normalised.”
Following the whole ordeal Ward 109 councillor Peter Helfrich sent a letter to Eskom to highlight the critical concerns that demand urgent attention.
“Our primary concerns revolved around the deteriorating of the cable on Macassar Road, aged over 50 years according to residents,” he said, “and the restoration of the Oklahoma Substation, a crucial element within the electrical infrastructure for our ward, which had suffered vandalism. However, I am pleased to inform the readers that Eskom has taken action to address these issues.”
Helfrich added maintenance had been conducted by Eskom on Macassar Road with a new cable installation sponsored by a private donor. “Additionally, the Oklahoma Substation has undergone repairs, and additional security measures have been implemented to prevent future acts of vandalism. We express our satisfaction with these steps and hope they will lead to a reduction in power supply disruptions.
“During the scheduled maintenance, Eskom faced unforeseen challenges, resulting in delays in power restoration. However, I am pleased to report that these issues have been addressed, and the power supply has been restored to normal.”
He thanked the power utility and its teams for their tireless efforts in resolving the recent disruptions. “We remain optimistic about ongoing collaboration to address the whatever concerns in our ward.”
