You should see Iscor Vanderbijl. Massive 275/33kV transformers straight onto the rods.
If they ever tripped during the process, it became a dynamite job.
I often worked at Olympus ( an ESKOM substation internal to the grounds).
I used to chuckle, when I knocked off at the same time as the lady crane drivers.
Those girls had muscles…
As they departed their shift they crossed the road, next to a warning sign that read:
“Danger Hot Slag Crossing”
Watch the video at the top of this article: Eskom war: Drones, canines and specialist services procured to crack down on Tutuka theft, corruption | News24
What is not said here speaks volumes.
Just before I started, there was a power cut (something that never happened in those days) while one of the cradles was being moved with 20t of melted metal. That jerking motion made a spill and the guy standing underneath vanished in a puff of smoke. Those danger signs are there for a very good reason!
My brother in law used to work at Toyota. One of the problems he had to solve had to do with the tools that are hard-wired to a roller-trolley on an overhead rail sort of setup (either an air- or electrical connection). Not only the men, but even the women on the assembly line would periodically rip a tool off its cord (assembly line is moving, you work against time).
The answer was to put a steel cable that is slightly shorter in “parallel” with the electric/air cord. It was better, but those ladies still broke it occasionally.
They are strong indeed.
I’ve heard about a massive “flywheel” called the “dip-doctor” at one of those smelters to smooth out dips in the grid (and give time for the backup generators to kick-in if I understood correctly). Apparently the equipment they use is extremely sensitive to the quality of the power.
When I hear about things like this, it just makes me appreciate how extremely complex the grid is, and at the same time, how little chance there is of these “energy experts” actually understanding the true underlying complexities…
A lollipop to those who figure out why a politician says " Look over there" in a crisis.
When an accusation of sabotage is made it is often counter productive. I worked on a construction site way back when and the boss called all contractors to a meeting to inform us that someone was sabotaging the plant and we needed to be vigilant!
What we weren’t sure of was whether this accusation deflected the heat of an overdue project.
One must be wary these accusations.
Sabotage Pfft!
I happen to know the answer.
But here’s the question.
“Pravin, you know that spending that was government approved for Eskom’s 2021 maintenance plan, it’s November any chance of releasing the funds?”
There’s the real issue, a mission, a clear plan and then sorry lads no money, tell the public some BS.
The problem with pharmacists is they are reactive and want to fix things with Elastoplast.
Real engineers are proactive and avoid injury in the first place.
This is something that really grinds my gears. People see “saving money” as a virtue (in some instances). And so, reducing Eskom’s spending is seen as a good thing. It isn’t. Eskom needs to be spending A LOT of money. They need to be spending it well, not losing it through corruption, but they need to be spending it. A ton of it. It is cheaper to do it now…
Last night, a water pipe burst in the neighbourhood. The same one that keeps on bursting over and over again because it isn’t properly fixed. Maintenance really doesn’t seem like CoCTs strong suit, even though they hammer on it often. I just think that people got used to expect so little from their service providers, that them just pitching to do anything is seen as a cause for celebration. Anyways. Our power was off this morning, not due to loadshedding. We were told there’s no estimate of time of the fix, but rejoice, it was fixed 2 hours later. Will have to see how this fix hold up…
*Edit: Ah it seems substation(s) (as per the message) blown and most neighbourhoods north of N1 still down. Maybe our substation just tripped when the other got damaged. Who knows. Anyways, sounds like a mess…
**Edit: Thanks @plonkster for the typo edit! 
It’s a yes/no thing. Just wasting all your money is definitely the opposite of a virtue. But of course, there is no point in having heaps of money if you cannot do anything with it. As a wise man once said (I’m paraphrasing a little), food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food, but you still gotta be wise about all that.
When it comes to Eskom, it isn’t so much the saving of the money as not getting into any more debt, or rather, living within your means if we dumb that down to street level. Also, SOEs have credit ratings, just like as plebeians, and borrowing more money (to spend on fixing all those things!) becomes harder if you don’t do this.
Perhaps it comes down to this: The opposite of extravagant is thrifty, but the opposite of generous is stingy. Be thrifty… not stingy.
Jip, that is why I added the “in some instances” part. Wasteful expenditure is definitely not good. I rather related it to how companies often want to “save” money, but the burden of that savings come down to the employees. This isn’t just a feature of SOEs. The private sector also likes to do that.
Haha yeah! That sounds like a good way of putting it.
The question is, why?
Get De Ruyter fired for “worst load-shedding EVAR”, go back to dodgy contracts, literal stealing, etc. for the next 12-18 months while the new guy tries to figure out what’s going on. Rinse & repeat.
Stealing everything that is a cable or a telephone pole to a powerline has been a national pastime for over 30 years in ZA.
Not a pastime. A full time job.
According to the article nothing was stolen in this case. Also, the supports were cut so that the tower toppled “up-hill”, directly onto the backup.
No doubt that was the intention.
The question is what was the motivation?
A personal vendetta against DeRuyter, or just to make a big enough mess that the thieves can strip the line tomorrow night?
That older line could be copper.
Forgive my scepticism, but there has been a lot of crying wolf since Alec Erwin’s bolt in 2006.
Credit rating of SOE’s, debt levels, SA downgrading, yet spending wisely and reducing ridiculous levels of debt … a helse job to make that happen all at once whilst monies have been stolen at such a rate openly, and still are being pillaged openly, the same monies that were meant to be spent on fixing, upgrading, expanding.
I don’t think it is a simple as we want it to be … maybe the Gov/politicians, De Ruyters bosses are ducking and diving cause the coffers are empty, now is that SA’s coffers or ANC’s coffers … ?
Why is parliament/every single political party not after this, as one?
The greed in all of this is astounding, orchestrated by very astute, well-connected, and powerful figures and groups, that for some reason or another cannot be fingered, tackled, dismantled, and put in front of a court to be judged.
What is, is not working for SA at all.
I read somewhere that he is starting to clean out the looters, so they want to get rid of him.