City of Johannesburg slams Eskom over power cuts
The city of Johannesburg said late on Thursday that State-owned electricity company Eskom had failed to give adequate notice before implementing scheduled power interruptions, or loadshedding, to relieve pressure on the grid in the face of a wage strike.
"Despite the city receiving communication that the parastatal was able to continue meeting demand for power generation, this evening, a number of Johannesburg communities, and those in other municipalities, were left without light due to a widespread power failure," said the city, which is run by the main opposition Democratic Alliance.
"The city is of the view that the manner in which this matter has been communicated to municipalities leaves much to be desired."
Eskom implemented loadshedding on Thursday evening, plunging several Johannesburg suburbs into darkness as generation and distribution across its network came under pressure from alleged acts of sabotage on the utility's infrastructure.
Workers are angry over the cash-strapped company's decision not to increase salaries this year. They have demanded a 15 percent hike.
Unions say Eskom's financial woes are a self-inflicted result of mismanagement and corruption by senior executives who were subsequently ousted.
On its Twitter feed late on Thursday, Eskom said electricity had been been restored in all areas, but urged consumers to use it sparingly and to switch off non-essential appliances.
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