CITY OF CAPE TOWN

12 DECEMBER 2019

MEDIA RELEASE

Stay energy-wise and improve resilience to load-shedding

The City of Cape Town welcomes the undertaking by President Cyril Ramaphosa that no load-shedding will be experienced between 17 December 2019 and 13 January 2020. Thanks to the people of Cape Town for their patience and cooperation during this time. The City continues to promote energy saving and preparedness tips to enhance the resilience of its residents and businesses. Read more below:

Transversely, the City continues to put operational measures in place to reduce the impact on City operations and to ensure that the City becomes more resilient against future energy supply disruptions caused by load-shedding.

‘Cape Town’s share of the national usage is about 5% of the total national usage. Our electricity savings efforts and our attempts to curb electricity losses as a result of theft and vandalism have been outstanding, however load-shedding is outside of the City’s control. We all need to look at how we can enhance our resilience in Cape Town. We continue to petition the powers that be to allow the City to buy energy from independent power producers as a means to introduce cleaner energy into the system and of enhancing security of supply over the medium term. Meanwhile, our roll out of contingency measures carries on across City operations.

‘We thank the residents of Cape Town for their support and patience during the rough time that we have had as a result of load-shedding. We look forward to decisive action at a national level, one that will lead to cleaner energy and more stable security of supply,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Phindile Maxiti.

Eskom’s load-shedding Stage 2 continues today. The City will carry on informing residents as soon as it receives any updates from Eskom, which usually is at short notice.

Improve your resilience to load-shedding
• Print out the load-shedding schedule which is available on the City’s website at www.capetown.gov.za/loadshedding. Eskom-supplied customers are encouraged to check Eskom’s website for the schedule
• If load-shedding affects traffic lights, the intersection should be regarded as a four-way stop. The first motorist to stop has right of way if it is safe to proceed
• Switch off appliances ahead of load-shedding to reduce the risk of damage from power surges
• Switch off those appliances that you don’t need
• Switch off your geyser and only switch it on for up to two hours per day. This will save a lot of electricity and it will save you money
• Delay switching on lights and appliances until after the peak periods (between 17:00 and 21:00) whenever possible
• Switch off your pool pump, geyser and other large electrical equipment, and never run both at the same time
• Adjust air conditioners to 23 degrees Celsius if you need to use them
• Visit www.SavingElectricity.org.za for more tips to save electricity
• If your electricity remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, SMS the City’s technical operations center on 31220, submit a service request online or call 0860 103 089.
End

Issued by: Media Office, City of Cape Town

Media enquiries: Councillor Phindile Maxiti, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change

Friday, 13 December 2019

Stay energy-wise and be prepared for load-shedding
The City of Cape Town welcomes the undertaking from President Cyril Ramaphosa that no load-shedding will be experienced between 17 December 2019 and 13 January 2020.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this time, however please continue to save energy and make sure you are prepared for possible load-shedding.
Be prepared
• Print the City’s load-shedding schedule. Eskom-supplied customers should check Eskom’s website for the schedule.
• Switch off those appliances that you don’t need, but make sure to charge your cell phone, laptop, tablet and radio when power is available. Depending on the load-shedding stage, some cell phone networks may be affected.
• Switch off appliances before your area outage to reduce the risk of damage from power surges.
• If traffic lights are affected during load-shedding, treat them as four-way stops.
• Keep some cash on hand as ATM’s cannot operate without electricity.
• If you do not have a gas stove, prepare your meals before the power is scheduled to be switched off. Bring your food to boiling point and use a non-electric, portable slow cooker bag to continue cooking food and keep it warm. Boil water and keep in thermos flasks for hot drinks.
• Keep backup batteries for electrically operated gates, garage doors and security systems in good working condition – they will need to last through longer periods during the higher load-shedding stages. Store candles, battery-powered torches and gas lamps in easy to find places.
Remember:
• If your electricity remains off for longer than the period specified in the schedule, SMS the City’s technical operations center on 31220, submit a service request online or call 0860 103 089.
• Visit our website, Facebook and Twitter pages for the latest load-shedding status updates.
• Our call center experiences a higher volume of calls during load-shedding. Please be patient.
• All City libraries are closed during load-shedding.
Resources:
• City of Cape Town website for load-shedding updates
• Load-shedding Stages 1-8: Schedule and map
• Load shedding FAQs

On the evening of the 31st November, Officer Peteni  made an arrest on his first night at the ECID. Jaco Bekker from Integrisec handed over a reward to Officer Peteni.

On the 1st November the ECID welcomed Integrisec as our new public safety and camera monitoring service provider. We look forward to a long and beneficial  working relationship.

On the 31st October the ECID said farewell to Executive Risk consultants after a worthy 5 year working relationship. We wish ERC well with all their future endeavors.

We also said goodbye to Stallion Security who did the camera monitoring for just over 2 years. We wish Stallion well with all their future endeavors.