Some areas in the City of Cape Town are supplied with electricity directly by Eskom and others by the City. This is not something which is determined by the City but under national legislation. While the City values service delivery to residents, there are limits to what the City or its representatives can achieve as Eskom is a national entity and does not fall within the control of the City.

‘The supply areas are established under the National Electricity Regulation Act via National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) issued Distribution Licenses. The Eskom distribution licence defines the Eskom supply area within the City of Cape Town and the City’s distribution licence defines the City’s supply area. Each licensee has exclusive authority to supply electricity and operate electricity networks in their supply area. The City is thus prohibited under law from supplying, operating or responding to electricity faults in the Eskom supply area. The City also cannot determine or change the supply areas and only Nersa has the authority to make such changes

‘Residents in Eskom-supplied areas are requested to report issues to Eskom directly. Councillors and subcouncils do engage with Eskom on a regular basis regarding electricity and energy supply matters. However, as Eskom is not a municipal entity there are times when the City or its representatives are unfortunately unable to assist residents in Eskom-supplied areas. Eskom service delivery issues should be taken up with Eskom and aspects surrounding theft of electricity or cable theft should be reported to the South African Police Service.

‘City of Cape Town customers have been protected from more than 1 100 hours of Eskom’s 1 900 hours of load-shedding between February 2022 and September 2022. The City continues to do everything it can to protect residents from the worst impacts of load-shedding, primarily through the management of the Steenbras Hydro Pumped Storage Scheme. The load-shedding protection is also to the benefit of everyone in Cape Town as it assists in protecting certain critical infrastructure and service provision (hospitals, water and wastewater) to all residents irrespective of their supply area.

‘While we understand some customers might be frustrated to live in an Eskom-supplied area at times, it’s important they remember that we do not determine who is supplied by the City and who is not. Furthermore, while these customers may not directly benefit from the City’s load-shedding protection, they do benefit from the protection of infrastructure and ongoing services. All Capetonians are therefore able to reap the rewards of the City’s regular maintenance of its infrastructure. We thank all residents for their support and patience,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.

The City also continues to build on its programme of ending load-shedding over time by focusing on energy diversification to enhance security of supply with the City’s own build projects, small-scale embedded generation programmes of buying excess power from qualifying customers, wheeling and independent power producer programmes.

Report damage to municipal electrical infrastructure:
SMS: 31220
Email: power@capetown.gov.za

Source: City Of Cape Town