Eskom cuts electricity supply to millions of Soweto residents, City of Joburg unhappy

[ngwe23]

As said, don't know about it so you may be right, but my thoughts are this. Many times my power gets cut yet street lights remain on. This means that there is still power running through some of those cables. So, there must be different feeds on the poles, some for houses, others lights, others feeding though to other neighbourhoods etc? So, if someone illegally connects on the right 'wire' could they be immune to load shedding?

In purely residential areas such as Soweto the street lights and the houses are fed by the same transformer from the substation level. Since load shedding happens at the substation it will affect both.

 

[Venomous]

Welcome to my stage 3 hell

yip,

on stage 3 my area gets lights out 2 - 3 times per day totalling min 10 hours, but generally 12 hrs+.

 

[ngwe23]

Yeah, me to when 'shed', but not when there is a non scheduled power out or fault. Visa versa too, streetlights can all be off for days, yet area still has power, and when call and complain, the light switch get flicked on. So, just trying to understand if there are different feeds in the same poles I get power from that are controlled individually, some with power still passing through during shedding, and if I get the right one I'll be home free. Or, when my area is load shed, is it safe to lick the power lines?

Dude you must discriminate a local fault from load shedding. The two are vastly different. When there is a general faulty it is possible for your house to be down while the street lights are on. With load shedding this maybe the case but very very rare. Do be honest I have never encountered such a scenario.

 

[ellyally]

Dude you must discriminate a local fault from load shedding. The two are vastly different. When there is a general faulty it is possible for your house to be down while the street lights are on. With load shedding this maybe the case but very very rare. Do be honest I have never encountered such a scenario.

Okay, so lick during load shedding, not during cut/fault.

 

[The Voice]

Two hours every other day is a little different to being permanently disconnected. If Eskom did the same thing in your neighbourhood, wouldn't you be pissed off?

http://mg.co.za/article/2015-05-07-struggle-for-power-in-soweto-goes-underground

Does your neighbourhood owe R8 billion?

 

[Wasabee!]

I am sure due to illegal connections and buildings the on and off of the supply is a huge fire risk.

That's what makes it funny.

 

[kevinswan007]

I personally feel the only way to curb the non payment in areas like Soweto is prepaid meters. BUT, I heard a woman from Soweto who had one installed and she complained that her electricity cost went from R200 a month before, and now its R800 after the prepaid installation.
And I have to agree with her on this. Mine was not as drastic, but I did notice a change in the amount of electricity I was paying for when I moved into a house with a pre-paid meter. It went up at least R300 for me. And nothing I was doing had changed.

There is no way people on a state pension could afford rent, food, electricity etc in this day and age.
Hell, my grandmother was getting +-R800 a month early 2003 I think it was, and she lived rent free and couldn't survive.

 

[kevinswan007]

As said, don't know about it so you may be right, but my thoughts are this. Many times my power gets cut yet street lights remain on. This means that there is still power running through some of those cables. So, there must be different feeds on the poles, some for houses, others lights, others feeding though to other neighbourhoods etc? So, if someone illegally connects on the right 'wire' could they be immune to load shedding?

Didnt the ANC promise free electricity and housing to 'its people'?

 

[Sinbad]

I personally feel the only way to curb the non payment in areas like Soweto is prepaid meters. BUT, I heard a woman from Soweto who had one installed and she complained that her electricity cost went from R200 a month before, and now its R800 after the prepaid installation.
And I have to agree with her on this. Mine was not as drastic, but I did notice a change in the amount of electricity I was paying for when I moved into a house with a pre-paid meter. It went up at least R300 for me. And nothing I was doing had changed.

Then she must stop supplying electricity to her friends, and she must get more efficient. My bill has gone down from R1200 to R800 since I went prepaid...

 

[Vrotappel]

I hope those paying for the electricity are refunded or provided generators. It must be getting cold up on the reef these days.

Nope we are not.

 

[Vrotappel]

I personally feel the only way to curb the non payment in areas like Soweto is prepaid meters. BUT, I heard a woman from Soweto who had one installed and she complained that her electricity cost went from R200 a month before, and now its R800 after the prepaid installation.
And I have to agree with her on this. Mine was not as drastic, but I did notice a change in the amount of electricity I was paying for when I moved into a house with a pre-paid meter. It went up at least R300 for me. And nothing I was doing had changed.

There is no way people on a state pension could afford rent, food, electricity etc in this day and age.
Hell, my grandmother was getting +-R800 a month early 2003 I think it was, and she lived rent free and couldn't survive.

My mother is on an old age grant and she pays approximately R250 a month on pre-paid. Her usage is about 230 units a month. So somebody paying R800 a month is using too much.

 

[supersunbird]

Not possible. ANC history teaches us that only white people had electricity pre 94.

And was it free? They probably will teach that it was.