Dylan Bettencourt
A power outage at the election results operation centre (ROC) on Saturday night forced the Electoral Commission (IEC) to meet with power utility Eskom to ensure a fully operational election day.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said they were working with the power utility as well as the city of Tshwane to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply come election day on Monday.
“It’s an ongoing consultation to ensure there is no disturbance in our operations. We are working around the clock to ensure that the systems are firm as we head to 1 November when millions of South Africans will be voting in this election,” Bapela said.
Emergency services spokesperson Thabo Charles Mabaso said a circuit breaker tripped, causing the power cut at the centre.
With the rolling blackouts throughout last week, many were concerned that election day would be interrupted by power failures.
Eskom, however, assured the nation that there will be no electricity issues on election day after loadshedding was suspended on Friday at 8pm.
“We are running with some risk units, but we have requested our colleagues at the power stations to be on high alert to make sure we have elections with electricity,” said Eskom Chief Operating Officer Jan Oberholzer.
Image source: @DailyMaverick
