Day: April 22, 2022

Load shedding has been downgraded to Stage 2 for the rest of Friday with the expectation that state power utility, Eskom, will recover enough generation capacity to suspend it altogether.

The electricity supplier has implemented various stages of load shedding throughout the week following breakdowns and delays in return to service at various power stations.

“A generation unit each at the Majuba, Matimba and the Arnot power stations have returned to service…while a single unit at Tutuka Power Station was shut down for repairs. Two more units are set to return to service.

“This, together with the expected lower weekend demand, makes it possible for Eskom to reduce the implementation of load shedding to Stage 2. Load shedding will then continue at that level until Friday evening. Eskom will continue to adjust the stage of load shedding depending on the level of breakdowns,” Eskom said.

The power utility has repeatedly apologised for implementing load shedding throughout the week.

“Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid. We therefore request the public to continue using electricity sparingly, as we strive to return units to service.

“Eskom would like to apologise for the implementation of loadshedding and will continue to closely monitor the power system. We will promptly inform the public should there be any significant developments,” the electricity supplier said.

Source: South African Government News Agency

The City’s Water and Sanitation Department will be shutting off the water supply to part of Constantia, on Tuesday, 26 April 2022, from 09:00 until 16:00. This will enable the safe completion of construction work on the main water supply to the area. The work will result in the disruption of water supply to part of Constantia Main Road, north of Price Drive, including Price Drive, Bel Air Drive, Pear Lane, Silvertree Lane, Schoenstatt Avenue, Gantouw Crescent, Wergelegen Avenue, Ou Wingerd Road and Rustenberg Avenue.

The work involves connecting the newly installed water main in Silvertree Lane to the existing water supply network.

Residents are advised to store water in clean, sealed containers upfront for domestic use during this period and to ensure that their taps are closed to avoid water loss and/or damage when the supply is restored.

This work forms part of the City’s Water Demand Management Strategy. Managing water pressure more effectively reduces the possibility of pipe bursts and water wastage.

The City regrets any inconvenience caused.

Source: City Of Cape Town

POTCHEFSTROOM – A 41-year-old woman and her male colleague, aged 42, are expected to make their first court appearance in the Klerksdorp Magistrates’ Court today, on charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH) and indecent assault.

The pair’s court appearance emanates from an incident wherein a 16-year-old boy was allegedly assaulted on Tuesday afternoon, 19 April 2022, at Tigane Location in Hartbeesfontein outside Klerksdorp.

According to reports, the female suspect who is security officer, gave the boy a R50-00 note to buy her a cold drink. However, the boy neither bought the cold drink nor gave the money back to the woman. The latter allegedly looked for the boy and eventually found and took him to the local clinic where she is working. With assistance of her male colleague, she allegedly chained the boy to a pole with hand cuffs, undressed and assaulted him with a belt. During the incident, a video was captured with a cell phone camera and later circulated on various social media platforms. In the video, the voice believed to be of the male suspect could be heard hurling insults at the boy and inciting the woman to assault the victim even harder. The severely assaulted victim was later taken by a Good Samaritan to another clinic for medical treatment as the one where the incident took place, was apparently closed.

Investigation into the matter continues.

The Provincial Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Sello Kwena is shocked by the incident. Thus, he instructed that the matter be thoroughly investigated to ensure that justice is served.

Source: South African Police Service

On 26 April 2022, the City’s Mobile Office will be at the Sir Lowry Pass Community Hall, Sir Lowry Road in Sir Lowry Pass Village to assist residents with various service enquiries between 09:30 and 13:30.

The officials assist residents with logging service enquiries electronically. The services include rates, sewerage, electricity, water, refuse collections, and all other account enquiries as well as general enquiries for City Parks, Solid Waste, Property Management, Valuations, Roads/Potholes.

Residents are advised that the officials can only assist with general housing enquiries, which entails providing the residents with contact details of the relevant departments.

‘We understand that some residents have fallen into hard times with the current pandemic and cannot afford to travel to our offices for services. Thus, we are making it easy for them by bringing the service closer to where they live. We are using all resources at our disposal to ensure service delivery continues. I appeal to residents to please take full advantage of this opportunity. Our officials are trained to provide the residents with the assistance they need without having to spend time and money travelling to the offices. Residents must please bring their IDs and/or account statements to help ease the process, ‘said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Corporate Services, Alderman Theresa Uys.

Source: City Of Cape Town

The City of Cape Town’s My Clean Green Home in Green Point Urban Park is open again to visitors in honour of Earth Day. The exhibit gives visitors an opportunity to walk through a full size model of a net zero carbon home and experience what life could be like to live in such a home. This year’s Earth Day theme is ‘Invest in Our Planet’ and is in line with the City’s climate change response and resilience campaign, Let’s ACT. For a Stronger Cape Town. It is the ultimate investment in our planet, and our future. Capetonians are encouraged to invest their time, visit the exhibit and learn how they can take action in their homes.

The compact home is the epitome of the City’s vision for its energy future. It gives visitors tangible ideas of how they can act in their homes to make Cape Town stronger and more resilient to climate change. A net zero carbon building is highly energy efficient, and fully powered from on or off-site renewable energy sources.

‘It is an honour to have declared this future-fit home open for the season, especially as we celebrate Earth Day today. This special home contains ideas and a vision that we could all benefit from. It shows that even small actions can make a difference, irrespective of our walks of life. As part of the City’s climate change action, we are aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050 and the City has committed that all new buildings in Cape Town will be net zero carbon by 2030. While net zero carbon homes seem as if they would be challenging to create, this shows that the technologies and building techniques already exist and are becoming increasingly within reach of the average household.

‘With no and low-investment options, all residents can act to make changes within their homes. All households can take small actions to increase their energy, water and waste efficiency. This is an exciting opportunity for our residents to see for themselves what is required to tackle our climate challenges and opportunities. It is one thing to hear and read about climate change and another to be able to walk around inside a net zero carbon home. This shows that it is already possible and that households can take even small actions to increase their energy, water and waste efficiency among others,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy and Climate Change, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.

A number of activities will be taking place at the house over the next few weeks. These include:

• Smart City Kids Programme with Early Childhood Development centres from Langa learning about sustainable living and resource efficiency on 26, 28 and 29 April

• Arts and crafts activities and scavenger hunts on the weekends and public holidays

• Visitors can place clean plastic waste into a sculpture as part of an Earth Day pledge

• Virtual walk through tool – a first for a South African city

The My Clean Green Home virtual walk through provides residents with the opportunity to learn about sustainable living and better understand their electricity consumption especially. This interactive, immersive educational tool which allows the user to experience a net zero carbon home is a first for a South African city and provides a wealth of information which users can use in their own homes.

Residents can experience this innovative house using this link: https://www.capetownfutureenergyfestival.co.za/mycleangreenhome

The exhibit is open to the public from 10:00 to 16:00 until 2 May 2022 at Green Point Urban Park. Strict access control and Covid-19 protocols will be in place to ensure the safety of all visitors and staff. As required by law, all participants are requested to wear a mask at all times.

Source: City Of Cape Town

WESTERN CAPE – Our pursuit to eradicate the lucrative drug market in this province led members of the Flying Squad, who reacted on intelligence, to a farm in the Drakenstein rural area of Paarl where they discovered a cannabis harvesting and manufacturing operation this morning. Searches conducted on the premises resulted in the arrest of 25 suspects aged between 18 and 55 and the discovery and seizure of cannabis plants and a large quantity of prepared cannabis ready for the market. Due to the substantial quantities, the estimated value of the drugs is yet to be determined.

While the suspects are awaiting their court appearance scheduled for Monday in Paarl to face a charge of dealing in drugs, members of our Provincial Detectives are probing the circumstances surrounding the matter. More arrests could be made as our investigation unfolds.

The Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape police, Lt Gen Thembisile Patekile commended the units responsible for the operation and issued a stern warning to drug dealers that their illegal trade will remain high on our policing priority list.

Source: South African Police Service

Residents are reminded to put out their bins on the upcoming public holidays, Freedom Day (27 April) and Workers Day (1 May), as the refuse collection teams will be working on these days.

Please also note the operating times at drop-off facilities during this period. Drop-off facilities are operating at public holiday times.

The City thanks residents for their continued efforts to Keep Cape Town Clean.

Source: City Of Cape Town