Overload trips burden eThekwini Municipality's electrical infrastructure

THE MUNICIPALITY has had a challenging start to the year as numerous overload trips after load shedding have left several areas in eThekwini plunged in darkness. Overload trips are a result of in rush currents when power is switched back on. The unit's Medium Voltage / Low Voltage Operations Deputy Head Veer Ramnarain said the network was not designed to handle frequent switching on and off as load shedding demands. ''Under normal circumstances, our network would only get switched off and back on once every three years but lately this happens more than once a day depending on the schedule. This puts additional strain on the reliable operation of the network. The current heatwave has also not made it easy as it contributes to a higher occurrence of faults.'' Prolonged outages caused by overload trips do not just inconvenience customers, but further regress progress made on repairing electrical infrastructure previously damaged during the floods in April last year. Despite being inundated by such challenges, the Municipality's engineers and technicians continue to work hard to restore power and ease the pressure on the network. Customers are urged to switch off high load appliances such as geysers, stoves, and kettles during power outages and switch them on in a staggered or random manner when power returns. Cable theft is another challenge that is crippling the infrastructure. Multiple electricity breakdowns are mainly due to the theft of cable and connecting to the grid illegally. It has a negative impact on the municipality's communication network, electricity supply, and traffic services. The Head of Electricity Maxwell Mthembu said the theft of cables does not only deprive residents the supply of power, but it also interrupts the supply of water to the residents due to malfunctioning of water pumps. It is for this reason that some areas are constantly experiencing water outages, resulting in the malfunction of water pumps. Sewerage pump stations also use electricity to pump raw sewerage to our treatment works. In the event of cable theft in these stations, operations ground to a halt resulting in sewerage ending up to clean water resources. The public is urged to report any suspicions of cable theft to the nearest police station. Loadshedding schedule is available on the municipal website www.durban.gov.za 

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Umlazi rabies drive

THE Rabie Vaccination campaign headed by the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development ended on a positive note in Umlazi last week. Pet owners were called to vaccinate their pets for free. The vaccination teams visited all sections in Umlazi to ensure that pets are prevented from the virus. In the past two years, the Municipality has seen a spike in positive animals. Human rabies tends to correlate with rabies amongst animals. Mop-up animal vaccination campaigns continue to be implemented to control the disease. Communities are advised to keep an eye on the city's social media pages to get dates and venues of the next Rabie campaign drive.