Loadshedding Info | Voter Registration Competition

Check Your Voter Registration & Win

Check your voter registration here and win

When the Electoral Laws Amendment Bill becomes law next year, it will ensure that voters without a valid address on the IEC system will not be disenfranchised from voting in the National Elections. However, they may not be allowed to cast a ballot in the Provincial Election.

Home Affairs Minister Siyabonga Cwele said last week that “On election day, such a voter may present herself at a voting station. She’ll be given a form to record her address before being issued with both national and provincial ballots.”

But if a voter can’t provide an address, Cwele says they’ll only be allowed to cast a national, and not a provincial vote. It also makes the cut-off date for voter registration the day the President announces a date for the elections. Read more here.

With this in mind, it is imperative that you make sure you are correctly registered AND your address is captured by the IEC.

I can check this for you and advise on what you need to do – and you get a chance to win either a R250 voucher donated by the Jolly Roger or Cafe Espresso in 4th Ave, Parkhurst.

Just fill out the form below and I’ll do a random number draw on Sat 8 December 2019. I’ll include all the names from the last competition too.

Note that there will be Candle Light Shopping in 4th Ave Parkhurst on Wed 5 December from 5-9pm. The restaurants and shops will be open, there will be live entertainment and a Christmas Market. Great place to find your presents for the holidays.

Check your voter registration here and win

Voter Registration Weekend 26/27 Jan

If you want to help out for a few hours on Voter Registration weekend, please let me know. I need helpers at each voting station to do tasks like greeting people, keeping stats, collecting info from new residents to go onto my email database and liaising with the IEC so that things run smoothly. The shifts are 8am-12’30 and 12’30-5pm on both days.

Loadshedding

We are basically in big trouble with our power supply at the moment. In an article at the weekend entitled “Prepare for many more years of Eskom load-shedding” it said that: “Eskom needs to spend billions of rand on maintenance in 2019 and has promised that load-shedding will subside by March. But the report quoted energy analyst Ted Blom who said coal shortages will continue until 2025” as there just aren’t enough coal mines to supply the coal-fireed Eskom power stations.

So, it is time to start thinking about coping strategies – generators, inverters, solar powered battery back-ups, cooking and heating on gas, led battery lights, candles.

And of course trying to understand the loadshedding schedules. There are lots of online resources, but nothing is reliable at the moment. I will take the today’s loadshedding schedule as a way of explaining why.

Eskom has implemented Stage 2 loadshedding today from 9am to 10pm. In Ward 117 and surrounds it will only affect us from 12-noon to 10pm tonight.

To try and work out exactly what will happen is not as straightforward as consulting a timetable and looking up which blocks and which suburbs will be affected. Below, I have tried to make sense of the current loadshed confusion in the City at the moment.

Note that I usually post daily loadshedding info (as well as lots of other updates, articles and useful snippets) on my Ward 117 Facebook Page. Have a look and follow it if you like what you see.  Also follow the @citypowerjhb twitter account as they will usually tell you which sub-stations are being spared and which ones are being cut.

Eskom vs City Power

Power is supplied to certain areas in the city by either Eskom or City Power. Areas served by Eskom tend to be in the north of Joburg like Bryanston, Midrand, Sandton and the south like Soweto. In and around Ward 117 it is solely supplied by City Power.

Load Limiting

To mitigate the effects of loadshedding, City Power can buy 1700 MW of extra power from Kelvin Power Station (it is expensive though). This is fine for stage one loadshedding, but at stage 2 we have to save 2000 MW and so we are 300 MW short. Thus certain sections in the affected loadblocks are cut. It often takes a few hours to organise this extra supply, so if Eskom suddenly announce they loadshedding (like last week) the 1st load block usually bears the brunt and is completely loadshed.

City Power can also load limit the smart meters it has installed. This means that they will remotely limit the meters so that you won’t be able to draw the full amount of power you usually use.

Eskom Again

Eskom have access to certain City Power sub-stations and thus sometimes institute adhoc cuts in the scheduled load blocks themselves on City Power sub-stations.

Ordinary Power Outages and Cable Theft Still Occur

Be aware as well that areas also suffer the usual power outages – yesterday there were 3 outages in Craighall Park, Linden and Blairgowrie that were unrelated to loadshedding, but added to the general confusion in the area. And the cable theft criminals also read the loadshedding schedules and steal cables while there is no power supplied to them (read more here).

I have attached the load blocks list to this email – remember – this is a work in progress and we will only figure it all out by trial and error.

Note that you can download the schedules for the the blocks below and the monthly roster here.

12 noon to 4’30pm – Block 8B

This block used to be a massive block stretching from Saxonwold to Cresta. It was split up in 2015, but there are still remnants of the old block on the list. I seriously doubt that suburbs like Parkhurst, Saxonwold, Hyde Park and Craighall are still on this list. I would guess that it is now the area served by the Roosevelt Park sub-station. The only way we will find out is when the block is actually loadshed.

4-8’30pm – Block 1A

This is also a tricky one to work out. It comprises of areas in the south, CBD and a section served by the Rosebank sub-station. Again we don’t really know the exact boundary of the sections of the suburbs in Ward 117. If I were to guess – it would say it is upper Parkwood, Saxonwold from Jan Smuts to Oxford Rd. And the area of Rosebank and Parktown North along Jan Smuts. Again, we will find out exactly where if we are loadshed.

8-10’30pm – Block 2A

This is the new block that came out of Block 8B when they were realigned in 2015. It is basically the Parkhurst Sub-Station and if it is completely loadshed, then 2/3 of the ward will be affected.

Step 4 – If Nothing Happens for 2 Months

The above processes should now each take about 2 months (note that the meters are sometimes out of stock). If you have paid for a new smart meter or a conversion, and nothing has happened for two months (or longer if you have already applied, especially before the DA took over), then you can escalate it to me via email. I will need…

Name
Cell
Address
Acct #
Old Meter # (if getting a smart meter or if you have a now defunct Hefcom meter)
Smart Meter # (if getting a conversion)
Date you applied
Attach your receipt

I will pass it on to the metering team and speed up the process for you.

I would advise you to take a certified copy of your ID and a copy of your account. If you are not the owner, you will need a letter authorising you act on their behalf and a certified copy of their ID. Take note of who you spoke to, the date and keep your receipts.

My Online Business Card

All you have to do is click on the link below to open up my online card and then click on the online “Save As Contact” link. Click here to access my Online Business Card

You can also access various useful links and sign up to my newsletter,  as well as forward the link to others.