The South African public have been warned to remain vigilant of crime during periods of load shedding following the latest bout of rolling blackouts to be implemented by failing state-owned entity, Eskom.
In a statement earlier today, the national power supplier said that it would be implementing stage four load shedding from 14:00 today (Tuesday) after its Koeberg Unit 1 plant suffered breakdowns.
“The unit has been disconnected from the grid due to a fault on the turbine side, however the nuclear reactor remains safe. The loss of approximately 930MW units puts further strain on the generation fleet, necessitating an increase in the stage of load shedding,” Eskom said.
“As the ageing fleet is currently constrained, unpredictable and vulnerable, we advise South Africans that the stage of load shedding may change at short notice should there be any unexpected change in the generation system performance.”
With the reintroduction of load shedding, security agencies have been put on high alert as criminals try to take advantage of the situation while most security measures, such as cameras and electric fences, are down.
Charnel Hattingh, Fidelity ADT’s national marketing and communications manager, told the South Coast Herald that the public and law enforcement officials needed to take extra safety precautions during periods of power outages.
“Law enforcement and security agencies are on alert to keep residents safe, especially during these extended periods of power disruption. We need the cooperation of the public to make sure that we prevent crime as far as possible.”
