As snow dusted parts of Gauteng yesterday, on top of rainy, freezing conditions, Johannesburg’s ailing electricity network was buckling under “significant pressure” from increased demand.

City Power said there were almost 3 700 power outage calls across eight service delivery centres yesterday morning.

City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena said technical teams were working around the clock but “overall backlog remains exceptionally high as new faults continue to be reported”.

Inclement weather delayed restoration efforts, including the excavation of underground cables and causing increased demand on the network, said Mangena.

He said City Power “will not compromise the safety of employees, contractors or the public” to speed up repairs in dangerous conditions.

Residents were urged to reduce electricity consumption, particularly during peak hours.

Other services affected by the outages included water supply. The electricity outage at the Crosby pump station left the pumps inoperable, affecting the Hursthill and Brixton reservoirs.

City Power said the problem was compounded in areas where there are illegal connections, meter bypassing and unplanned developments, and where infrastructure is already operating beyond its designed capacity.

According to Julia Fish, director of JoburgCAN, the power outages are exposing years of inadequate maintenance and investment in the electricity network.

Fish said the City of Joburg should “ensure system maintenance and investment in infrastructure was made before winter” to avoid outages.

While City Power’s capital expenditure budget appears relatively healthy, Fish said its “operations budget has severely constrained things like their ability to have security for the network” or maintain the broader supply chain.

Fish also criticised the city’s historical practice of “sweeping accounts”, where money is taken from municipal utilities and is not necessarily returned.

She said this weakened City Power’s operational stability, while rising electricity costs and unreliable supply forces some residents to use dangerous alternatives.

City of Joburg’s MMC for public safety, Moshe Koma, urged residents to take precautions.

“The predicted drop in temperatures requires residents, motorists and businesses to take precautionary measures,” he said.

Motorists have also been cautioned to reduce speed, increase following distances and exercise vigilance on wet, slippery or potentially icy roads.

Koma urged residents to secure loose objects around homes and businesses that could be affected by winds or adverse weather.

The freezing temperatures, heavy rain and disruptive snow are expected to clear by Friday.

According to South African History Online, the coldest day in Pretoria in recent history was on 12 June, 1963, when the temperatures plummeted to a minimum of -3.6ºC and a maximum of 7.5ºC, while the lowest night-time minimum temperature recorded in Joburg is -8.2°C on 13 June, 1979.

South Africa Weather Service senior forecaster Tokelo Chiloane said: “On Wednesday it will remain cloudy in the west, otherwise cloudy, windy and cold with isolated showers and rain over the central and eastern parts, but scattered along the east coast and adjacent interior.

“Thursday and Friday is expected to be fine and warm in places in the west, otherwise partly cloudy and cold to cool, with isolated showers and rain in the extreme east but drizzle along the northeastern escarpment.”

Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa chief economist Wandile Sihlobo said he was concerned about the bad weather’s impact on livestock.