‘Police have got injured because of darkness,’ Bheki Cele says about load-shedding

Bheki Cele has responded to public frustration about the slow pace of work at some police stations.

The police minister, addressing media, said Eskom’s ongoing power cuts were among the issues affecting police work.

“Several police have got injured because of darkness. It does affect us. Police stations come to a standstill because there is no electricity. But also, [some] problems ... are in the hands of the other departments, especially when it comes to stations and generators,” said Cele.

He said police officers put themselves and communities in danger when they went after alleged criminals during load-shedding. 

“This thing of working in the darkness, not necessarily in the offices, but out there, causes more damage. More cables are stolen when there is no electricity and police must chase these criminals in the darkness, putting themselves in more danger. We hope this is resolved and quickly so we go back to normality and do our work in a normal way.”

Eskom said this week that load-shedding would continue at stage 5, with the possibility of it being reduced by one stage on Thursday. 

Seven units have returned to service at Camden, Kendal, Kriel, Kusile, Lethabo and Majuba power stations.

“While some generation units are anticipated to return to service, it is necessary to continue the stage 5 load-shedding to limit the use of the emergency generation reserves. The emergency generation reserves are severely constrained by extensive utilisation to supplement generation capacity,” said the power utility.

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