As loadshedding takes over our week, most locals can share two sentiments: a deep sigh, and a sense of confusion. Stages have tangoed in change and last-minute announcements have stirred us as much as the lights cutting during the middle of your favourite TV show.
While it may not be able to solve the problem, the City of Cape Town is guiding customers through the darkness by launching a new loadshedding app.
It boasts a menu of helpful features, from time information that’s area-specific, log electricity service requests and options on where to buy prepaid electricity.
Users can stay updated by adding their area via a map, using their current location or searching for an area in the search box. We’ll then be directed to loadshedding statuses and timetables from current spots to those soon to be without power.
A user doesn’t need to register or share personal details, and can receive alerts while using the app.
“As we work to end blackouts over time in Cape Town, load-shedding schedules for City customers are likely to become more complex, with different stages at different times of the day. Our app will allow residents to access the most accurate information about loadshedding, allowing them to plan their lives We want Capetonians to experience the minimum amount of inconvenience from Eskom’s generation failures while we work to make load-shedding a thing of the past,” says Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis.
The City app is, however, dependent on Eskom’s information and can only be updated accordingly.
Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel is Mayco Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen.
“One could argue few good things come from load-shedding, but this is an example of innovation being born from crisis. This work is part of a myriad projects under way to change the way Cape Town experiences loadshedding. This includes constant investment and maintenance in infrastructure to ensure the City is able to protect its customers from at least a stage of loadshedding where it can; while at the same time rolling out Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’s energy priority of ending load-shedding over time,’ van Reenen commented.
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