Africa-Press – South-Africa. Homes owned by government ministers in Bryntirion Estate, Pretoria are not affected by load shedding, but it’s not due to preferential treatment, the City of Tshwane says.
The homes, as well as several embassies, are benefitting from municipal compliance with legislation ordering that the lights must stay on at the Union Buildings.
According to national Department of Public Works and Infrastructure spokesperson Thamsanqa Mchunu, the department has been “inundated with enquiries” regarding the lack of load shedding at Bryntirion Estate.
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The area is home to a number of members of the executive, as well as several embassies.
However, the department said it had no part in supplying electricity.
“As DPWI (Department of Public Works and Infrastructure), we want to place it on record that as much as we are responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of Bryntirion Estate and other properties that house members of the executive, we are not responsible for determining load shedding, the places and times when it should occur. It is the mandate and the discretion of the municipalities and Eskom to do that,” said Mchunu.
Mchunu added that in Cape Town, only the president and deputy president’s houses remained lit.
He said:
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said the City “is the sole distributor of electricity in that area”.
City of Tshwane spokesperson Selby Bokaba said that according to the municipality’s distribution licence, the municipality is required to fully comply with NRS 048-Part 9 on load reduction, curtailment and load shedding.
The NRS 048 is a national code of practice issued by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to licence holders.
He said:
The national standard excludes two areas from load shedding – the Union Buildings (the seat of government in Pretoria) and the National Assembly in Cape Town.
Bryntirion Estate is served by the same substation as the Union Buildings. This makes it impossible for the City to cut the residential power supply and still keep the lights on at the Union Buildings, according to Bokaba.
“The Bryntirion Estate, which houses ministers, is not excluded from load shedding, but it benefits…by default as it is supplied by the same substation that feeds the Union Buildings. There are some embassies that are situated within the Union Buildings precinct that benefit by default…precisely because of their physical location, which is in the supply line to the Union Buildings,” he added.
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