Durban — Days after a temporary load shedding schedule for the eThekwini Municipality started circulating among residents, newly appointed DA eThekwini caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa said load shedding could not go ahead in eThekwini until infrastructure stability was confirmed.
The temporary load shedding schedule was between stages 4-8.
Mthethwa indicated that on Monday, the DA in eThekwini wrote to city manager Musa Mbhele requesting an urgent report on repair work conducted on the municipality’s electricity infrastructure and the stability of the grid following the April floods.
Mthethwa said the call comes after Electricity head Maxwell Mthembu confirmed late last week eThekwini would experience Stage 4-5 load shedding from August 1, 2022.
In the letter, Mthethwa said that, with Mthembu having confirmed load shedding would resume from August 1, he would like to get clarity as to how far the municipality was with repairs to the electricity infrastructure after the April floods, was the electricity infrastructure and network stable and ready for the resumption of load shedding?
“I ask this because I think we all know the damage which usually occurs as a result of load shedding. I don’t think we should resume load shedding until such a time that our electricity infrastructure is stable enough. Lastly, may I request that in our next Executive committee meeting, a report regarding the stability of our electricity infrastructure and the state of readiness is tabled. I have included the mayor here as the chairperson of Exco,” the letter read.
Mthethwa said the DA did not believe that any load shedding should go ahead until such time as the report was tabled and confirmation was received that eThekwini’s infrastructure is stable enough to support frequent power cuts.
“Load shedding alone damages infrastructure. To load shed infrastructure that might still be unstable would cause even worse damage, which the municipality will not be able to control,” Mthethwa said.
“Many eThekwini communities are already suffering as a result of water shedding and constant water outages as a result of unstable infrastructure. They cannot be expected to endure the same when it comes to electricity.”
Daily News