Eskom to cut off power to several towns over non-payment

Eskom said on Monday that it will cut the supply of electricity to several towns around the country over non-payment for electricity.

The power will remain cut until the municipalities concerned remedy the situation, Eskom said in a statement on its Twitter account.

The state-owned utility will switch off power to Tsantsabane, Postmasburg, Magareng, Warrenton, Richtersveld, Port Nolloth, Khai-Ma, Pofadder and Aggeneys, it said.

Electricity will be switched off from 6am to 8pm every day from Wednesday, 8 July, until such time as the municipalities have settled their arrears with Eskom.

In a separate statement, issued an hour earlier, Eskom said it would continue with “load reduction” in parts of Gauteng on Monday where there are high levels of illegal connections to the grid.

“We are implementing load reduction from 5pm to 10pm to avoid network overloading in high-density areas that are prone to illegal connections, meter bypasses and vandalism of electricity infrastructure,” it said.

Affected areas are Soweto (Bram Fischerville, Dobsonville Gardens, Doornkop, Dube, Emdeni, Jabulani, Mmesi Park, Mofolo North, Moletsane, Naledi, Tladi, Zola and Zondi) and Vaal (De Deur/Walkerville, Lakeside Estates, Lakeside, Golden Gardens, Johandeo AH, Sebokeng Zones 10-14, 16, 17 and 19).  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media