Cities hit by power crunch

JOHANNESBURG – A cold snap and flash floods in parts of South Africa have put pressure on electricitysupplies and prompted calls from authorities for lower consumption.

In the seat of government, Pretoria, municipal authorities on Friday urged consumers to use electricity sparingly over the weekend. It requested residents to help curb “overload conditions” in the city by cutting back on electricity use.It advised consumers to switch off “unnecessary appliances”.In Cape Town, electricity parastatal Eskom put the risk level at “green”, meaning that consumers should try to conserve electricity, said spokesman Fani Zulu.Green is the lowest risk scenario, followed by orange, red and brown.Cape Town suffered intermittent power interruptions at the beginning of the year because of technical problems with one of two generators at the nuclear power station Koeberg.The reasons for the breakdown, initially hinted by the government to have been sabotage, are to be made known later this month.The Eastern Cape province was also experiencing electricity problems due to flooding over the past two days, Zulu said.Nampa-AFPIt requested residents to help curb “overload conditions” in the city by cutting back on electricity use.It advised consumers to switch off “unnecessary appliances”.In Cape Town, electricity parastatal Eskom put the risk level at “green”, meaning that consumers should try to conserve electricity, said spokesman Fani Zulu.Green is the lowest risk scenario, followed by orange, red and brown.Cape Town suffered intermittent power interruptions at the beginning of the year because of technical problems with one of two generators at the nuclear power station Koeberg.The reasons for the breakdown, initially hinted by the government to have been sabotage, are to be made known later this month.The Eastern Cape province was also experiencing electricity problems due to flooding over the past two days, Zulu said.Nampa-AFP