Eskom: We'll keep the cold away Eskom vows to beat cold front

If you've been relying on your electric heater to keep warm as the cold front sweeps through the country, there's good news - electricity utility Eskom says it has enough capacity to keep the power on.

But, despite Eskom's assurance, many people, especially in Gauteng, have complained of unscheduled power cuts.

The national power grid is under intense strain, especially in the evenings when people return home and turn on heaters.

Eskom spokesman Andrew Etzinger said yesterday it was unlikely that the company would have to resort to load-shedding.

"We'll see a higher demand for electricity as a result of the cold front but the reserve margin is adequate," Etzinger said.

He said maintenance plans had been changed to prevent a decrease in supply capacity.

An Eskom system status bulletin, which is released twice a week to keep the public updated, said on Monday that generating capacity was 36GW and demand 33.6GW.

"The system is stable but still tight over the evening peak," the bulletin said.

"The demand is expected to increase into the week due to cold weather forecast for Gauteng."

Eskom has asked that electricity be used sparingly, especially between 5pm and 9pm, when home appliances are most often switched on. The biggest consumer of electricity in the home is the geyser.

Though Eskom said load-shedding was unlikely this week, many people have complained of power outages.

On Twitter there were reports of blackouts in Dobsonville and Protea Glen, in Soweto.

In some instances Eskom apologised for the cut and advised that the local municipality be contacted to solve the problem.

Ayesha Kajee said there had been power cuts in the Johannesburg suburbs of Mayfair, Auckland Park and Fordsburg since Ramadan started.

"Since the majority of residents in some of these areas are Muslim and are fasting, this causes great discomfort .

"I have an 81-year old chronically ill parent to care for and these unscheduled power cuts make that much more difficult," Kajee said yesterday.

Joy Theks, of Brits, said she had been without power for a full day last week.

Wessel Roodt said Kempton Park had been without power for four days last week.

"Had to buy a generator and use gas stove," he said.

Late last week, bitterly cold weather hit Western Cape. Temperatures plummeted and there was heavy rain and snowfall in high-lying areas.

The cold front caused temperatures to drop by at least 5C in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.