NERSA disputes claims that poor communities being targeted with load reduction

JOHANNESBURG – The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) has disputed claims that poor communities are being targeted with the implementation of load reduction.

During an inquiry by the Human Rights Commission, regulatory specialist Vuyiswa Magubane testified that load reduction was prevalent in non-paying communities.

Magubane said the power cuts were implemented in areas with illegal connections.

At its first sitting, the commission heard how Eskom was allegedly implementing load reduction only in poor communities.

Magubane sought to clarify this notion when she appeared before the Chapter Nine institution on its second day of hearings probing the effects of load reduction on human rights.

"Load reduction is meant to protect the infrastructure only. It's meant to ensure that the infrastructure is not operated beyond its design limits. And so, but it is not meant to say that it's targeted for communities, it's just prevalent in poor communities because that's where you'd normally find issues of illegal connections, yeah."

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