Over 30 hours without power for parts of Randburg, Joburg City Power drowning in outage complaints

Residents in some Randburg areas have been without electricity for more than 30 hours. Joburg City Power said that this is due to some substations experiencing trips because of an overload. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Residents in some Randburg areas have been without electricity for more than 30 hours. Joburg City Power said that this is due to some substations experiencing trips because of an overload. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu/African News Agency (ANA) Archives

Published Jul 11, 2023

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As most South Africans brace and bemoan Stage 4 load shedding starting at 2 pm on Tuesday afternoon, some parts of Randburg, Johannesburg have now been without power for over 30 hours uninterrupted.

Suburbs in Randburg such as Bromhof, Boskruin, Northwold, and Sonneglans, have been without power since 3 am Monday morning, when snow and icy temperatures befell the area.

The greater Randburg area has seen nearly 600 complaints from residents, Joburg City Power said in a statement on Tuesday.

It said one in 10 complaints were residents complaining about no power for over 24 hours, yet power has not been restored.

The Randburg area currently has over 90 plants out of service.

“During these cold weather conditions, in the past two days, the following substations have been experiencing regular trips due to overload, affecting the Randburg, Olivedale, and Northriding substations.

“The substations have plants that are out of service, resulting in regular trips when the load on the network is too high.

“These challenges delay the restoration process as it takes longer to stabilise the load on the network,” said the city's power utility.

City Power said teams had been deployed to replace cables.

On Monday night, City Power said a night shift team would be deployed to restore power. However, by 1 pm Tuesday, power had yet to be restored.

Meanwhile, as of 12 pm on Tuesday, City Power reported another outage at a Randburg servicing plant, this time at the Bordeaux Substation.

City Power has said operators will be dispatched to this area only after the Randburg Substation outage work has been completed.

Meanwhile, frustrated Randburg residents have flooded City Power on social media, calling for power.

— Mt03Gaming (@Mt03Gaming) July 11, 2023

— Nokukhanya Pat Mla (@patmlanduli) July 11, 2023

— Blessing Mokwoeng (@ZacharyMack14) July 11, 2023

Current outages in the Randburg area include Bromhof, Boskruin, Sonneglans, Blairgowrie, Fontainebleau, Ferndale, Hoogland, Northriding, Kyasand, Northriding AH, Johannesburg North, and surrounding areas.

Meanwhile, for those who do have some electricity, City Power has called on residents to use it sparingly.

“Please keep appliances such as geysers, heaters, stoves, and Solar/UPS battery chargers unplugged to reduce the burden on the grid to avoid regular outages,” it said.

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