Why some Joburg suburbs are having power cuts outside of loadshedding

Information compiled by Councillor Tim Truluck on Tuesday and distributed amongst community groups in his ward (117) explained the recent power situation in Rosebank and why there have been ongoing and continual power trips after scheduled loadshedding.

He said the power trips outside of loadshedding are due to overloading of the Rosebank sub-station, after portions of Saxonwold, Parkwood & Parktown North were backfed from it 10 days ago.

“This was after ongoing and continual trips at the Forest Town sub-station, when the above areas were backfed from there after a main line from the Parkhurst load centre failed,” he said.

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“To overcome this, City Power moved the supply to be backfed from Rosebank. This has just shifted the problem to Rosebank, hence the recent tripping.”

Truluck says this is happening all over Johannesburg as the network fails, and City Power are struggling to make repairs as they have no material and often not enough manpower. So they backfeed power from other sub-stations.

“I have been told that the Hurst Hill Depot is planning on restoring the Parkhurst feed, but it is a big job that requires quotes and supply chain management involvement as well as lots of money,” he said.

“They are saying end of May, but I would not pin my hopes on any timelines provided. There are about three councillors affected by these trips, and we’ll keep on pestering City Power about this,” he added.

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Residents urged to invest in alternate power sources

Truluck highlighted the “deep trouble” City Power currently finds itself in and that while individual parts of the network may get attention, they are struggling to repair and maintain the grid as a whole. He also urged residents to invest in alternate energy sources as it has become clear that the city’s energy provider cannot be relied upon.

“I am strongly suggesting that households and businesses get a solar/battery/inverter system that can help mitigate the increasingly frequent multi-day outages that we will all be experiencing in the foreseeable future,” he added.

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Truluck concluded by quoting stats from the latest quarterly report (July – September 2022) that was passed in Council last month as an example of the “terrible state” City Power is in:

• Overdraft is R9.11 billion (increased 37% from the previous quarter) – this is the amount the City of Joburg has to pay City Power to bail it out
• Overdraft is costing R36 million a month in interest
• City Power has a severe liquidity problem: current assets of R3.9 billion is way less than its liabilities of R10.7 billion
• Made a loss of R1.356 billion in three months (losing R452 million a month)
• Collected R786 million less than predicted (R262 million a month)
• Repairs and maintenance is over budget by R70 million (R23 million a month) “You would think this is good,” Truluck adds here,” but it is due to invoices from the previous quarter not being paid then as City Power ran out of money to pay its contractors in the previous Financial Year.”
• Liquidity ratio is -197 (norm is +60) City Power is unable to cover its current debt due to its high overdraft
• Cash cover is -1.44. City Power is unable to cover one month’s costs due to its high overdraft
• Solvency ratio is 5:1 (norm is 2.1:1) City Power is unable to meet it’s long-term debts

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