City of Joburg request to be excluded from load shedding is 'currently being reviewed' - Eskom

The City of Johannesburg's request for a three-day load shedding exemption is under review, according to Eskom.

"Eskom can confirm that City Power has made a request for exclusion from load shedding. The request is currently being reviewed," it said on Tuesday.

Johannesburg Mayor Mpho Phalatse submitted the urgent request to the power utility on Monday, as City Power officials battled to clear an increasing backlog of faults and power outages that occurred during torrential rains in Gauteng.

READ | Load shedding trips up small businesses again as Eskom struggles to keep the lights on

On Monday, there were more than 4 000 service calls related to outages, according to Environment and Infrastructure Services MMC Michael Sun. A significant proportion was for issues that persisted for multiple days.

Areas that were hit the hardest were the larger Roodepoort area, Hursthill, Northcliff, and Lenasia, where infrastructure was severely damaged by flooding.

During a walkabout in the area, Sun said many roads and infrastructure near Florida Lake had been damaged.

Some residents have been without power for several days.

In addition, technicians became soft targets while attending to power outages.

Four City Power technicians were held at gunpoint, assaulted and robbed by six men in Jeppestown in full view of community members on Sunday.