Eskom has successfully completed the replacement of 400 transformers that had been compromised due to network overloading since the year’s start.

“Overloaded transformers due to electricity theft present a serious risk to human life. The time, funds and manpower used to replace these transformers could have been utilised to improve the reliability of our network, electrify more communities, improve the experience of our paying customers, and create more jobs,” says Agnes Mlambo, the Acting Group Executive for Eskom Distribution. “A transformer damaged by overloading can leave an area without power for up to six months.”

To prevent load reduction and abrupt loss of supply, Eskom has launched the ‘Save Your Transformers, Save Lives’ campaign, which urges customers to reduce their consumption and ensure that the electricity they consume is legally connected, paid for, and purchased from legal vendors.

“It is important to note that load reduction is not loadshedding. Load reduction is a long-established process that Eskom uses in specific areas when sufficient electricity is available but a transformer is in danger of overloading, whereas loadshedding is used when there is an insufficient supply of electricity,” Eskom says.