Gigaba was addressing hundreds of residents who had gathered at the Menzi sports grounds in Umlazi N-section to learn more about 49M, South Africa's energy efficiency campaign. He was accompanied by local community leaders including Eskom chairman Zola Tsotsi, and senior officials from the Department of Public Enterprises.
In his address, Gigaba urged residents to support the call by 49M to create an energy efficient South Africa. He said behavioural change in the way South Africans were using electricity will contribute towards efforts by Eskom to reduce constraints on the country's power system. He encouraged residents to follow simple electricity saving tips such as switching to energy-saving light bulbs and switching off appliances that are not in use instead of leaving them on standby.
The minister called on residents to be mindful when using electricity between five and nine in the evenings. "This is time when the country uses the most electricity. This puts a strain to the power system as all these activities happen simultaneously. But if we start becoming mindful on how we use electricity when we get home it will bring relief to the grid and in return residents will see reductions in electricity bills," he said.
Gigaba urged residents to report illegal connections and cable theft. He said these contributed to network overload and equipment failure, causing the system to trip and result in localised power outages.
