eThekwini must petition Eskom to be exempted from load shedding - DA

Caucus leader Thabani Mthethwa says the current round of load shedding, which switched from stage 6 to stage 5 this week, exposed these faults and challenges related to stability. 

He says it's become evident as more and more areas experience electricity faults leaving communities in the dark for hours or even days.

eThekwini says technicians are working around the clock to repair the faults caused by frequent power surges. 

READ: Stage 5 load shedding to remain in place until Saturday morning

Mthethwa says taking into consideration the work that still needs to be done to repair the city's grid following the April floods -- it's clear that the municipality wasn't ready for stage 6 load shedding. 

"We are saying as the DA that firstly, the city manager, deputy manager, and the head of electricity must urgently petition Eskom so that for a few weeks at least eThekwini is exempt from load shedding so that we are able to attend to the power infrastructure and make sure that when we reintroduce load shedding, because it is unfortunate that it does seem that load shedding is going to be with us for quite some time. 

"But when we reintroduce it, we are sure that our electricity network and infrastructure is able to cope with the demand and the after effects of load shedding."