Joburg's week-long blackouts

MAINTENANCE: EIGHT-HOUR POWER OUTAGES WILL AFFECT 39 AREAS, SAYS CITY POWER

- Cornelia le Roux & Masoka Dube

Joburg residents will face a week of blackouts from Monday as City Power services its power supply network.

According to City Power, the eight-hour power outage will affect 39 areas from Monday.

The entity said a positive outcome of the interruption will be service improvement, as outdated electricity networks tend to deliver poor electricity supply.

The power outage will run from Monday until 24 February and will take place between 8am to 5pm.

Nico de Jager, DA shadow MMC for infrastructure, said the other things contributing to the Joburg electricity crisis included a lack of skilled employees, mismanagement and a lack of financial support from relevant authorities.

"Remember, City Power gets its budget from a political office, which is the mayoral financial department," said De Jager.

"When the budget is being allocated, they don't consider the issue of maintenance, which is important to ensure that the entity can perform its duties. By law, the entity has to spend 8% of its annual budget on maintenance and refurbishment, which is now not the case as they spend about 2%.

"This affects the infrastructure and causes more problems such as power outages."