An old video showing an Eskom employee allegedly switching off the power of a certain grid in Rustenburg has surfaced and is fast gaining social media attention.
The video which has over three million views on Wednesday shows an unidentified man implementing what appears to be a load shedding maneuver.
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While the video was shot around September, it has most likely resurfaced due an increase in load shedding stages.
@mandisidyantyi Load Shedding stage 4 operating 11000 volts without an arc flash suit, this is asking for trouble. It has become a norm to commit unsafe acts in the work place. #Rustenburg Municipality
Captioned: Load shedding stage 4, operating 11 000 volts without an arc flash suit is asking for trouble. It has become a norm to commit unsafe acts in the work place. #Rustenburg Municipality, the video is fast showing citizens the reality of what really happens when Eskom switches off power.
Note: The person in the footage is not wearing an arc flash suit to handle massive amounts of volts.
An Arc flash suit is protection by Nomex arc flash suits which provides a person wearing it a few seconds of protection, by preventing burning of the skin.
The main characteristic of the suit is to self extinguish. Experts are advised to wear the right gear at all times.
While some of us had the idea that the system was automated, the video shifts that idea to show how one man could be responsible for a cold dinner.
Before you think one man is responsible for outages, there is a process Eskom follows.
How Eskom monitors load shedding
When a call is made on which lights to switch off, each power station supplying the grid communicates its energy output capabilities to the Eskom control centre.
The available data is used to calculate how much energy is needed by each area versus how much power the power utility must supply.
Different municipalities then split their areas to assign each area a period of power outage.
Unique codes are assigned to different blocs with people informed when their lights will be switched off.
This only happens if there are no time sensitive repairs or issues as at times the utility may be forced to move quicker in switching off power to preserve, energy reserves.
Different areas are assigned a load shedding slot and periodically updated to ensure no area bares the power outage brunt alone.
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