By: Natasha Archary
There’s no end in sight for Gauteng’s power crisis as Eskom blames “equipment failure” on its inability to restore power across the province.
With many areas affected post-loadshedding and being unable to restore at times for days on end, Eskom says equipment failure is to blame.
The challenges the power utility claims its dealing with include limited stock levels of mini-substations and transformers brought on by illegal connections.
Equipment failure is causing network overload and with shortages of equipment, Eskom is struggling to make repairs in time.
The power utility claims its repaired 116 of 181 damaged mini substations so far. Costing Eskom a total of R152 million, 1 326 transformers out of 2 314 were replaced or repaired.
Even with these repairs, Eskom still cannot keep up with the equipment failures and high demands.
“Although we are faced with the challenge of equipment shortages, the manufacturers have committed to continue to prioritise Eskom as they understand the impact this has on Gauteng as the economic hub, the essential services and the communities in the province”,
said Mashangu Xivambu, the Senior Manager for Maintenance and Operations in Gauteng.
Apart from equipment failing, illegal connections, tampering with meters, vandalism and theft are amongst the reasons Eskom simply cannot give Gauteng residents an estimate for when power will be restored.



