Increasingly, the electrical contracting industry in South Africa has no alternative but to resort to the media to demand solutions to problems that are being ignored by the regulatory authorities. This is a sad, unhealthy state of affairs and most likely indicative of an erosion of accountability... (more) 

Since the inception of the Eskom solar water heater (SWH) rebate programme in 2008, there has been a phenomenal growth in supply of SWHs with the number of suppliers increasing from 45 to 700... (more) 

Labour minister Mildred Oliphant has announced in early April this year that the Employment Conditions Commission would consider representations on increasing the Earnings Threshold in the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA). Interested parties had until 7 May 2013 to make representations to the commission... (more) 

I announced in my 2012 Annual Report, which was recently published in Vector, that it would be my last annual report as national director as I would be retiring early in the new year. It took a while to find my successor, but now that we have I have announced to the ECA(SA) National Executive Committee that it is time for me to go... (more) 

The lighting industry has been frustrated in complying with compulsory specifications VC8055 and VC9091 for luminaires and compact fluorescent lamps respectively. Another obstacle is obtaining Letters of Authority (LoAs) for these products... (more) 

Acting on instinct, an employer may want to fire an employee who has been arrested or imprisoned. This could be a mistake! An arrested person is someone who has been taken to a police station and formally charged with an offence. He may be also serving a prison sentence... (more) 

I would like to support the views of Chris Stewart on the viability of LED lighting (Vector, April 2013, page 22). The problems with acceptance among end-users of the current generation of CFL devices seem to lie in a number of areas... (more)

Appropriate calibration procedures and practical operating guidelines for integrating spheres used for the characterisation of LEDs and SSL products. The LED industry is growing rapidly, Information from Philips Lumileds creating an urgent need for reliable measurements of LED and solid state lighting (SSL) products... (more) 

The questions in this issue cover topics such as the best location for surge protection, whether pipes carrying oil should be bonded, the correct way to reverse the rotation of a star-delta electric motor and whether cables that supply 230 V DC are allowed to bunch with 230 V AC cables inside the same cable conduit... (more) 

Both soft starters and variable frequency drives (VFDs) can reduce inrush currents and limit torque, protecting equipment and extending motor life by reducing motor heating caused by frequent starts and stops. Choosing between soft starter and VFD depends on... (more) 

Ensuring that diesel is as close as possible to where it is needed for underground machinery can greatly improve the overall performance of a mine. With rising electricity fuel prices, it has become essential for mines to optimise their processes to stay competitive. Automation is seen as key to improving these processes... (more) 

A unique approach to LV switchgear protection and the process of transitioning this concept to a real-world application. In low-voltage (LV) power systems (600 V and below), a network of communicating devices can provide supervisory control functions, gather substation electrical data and report event status to a computer... (more) 

Mining vehicle fire system actuation methods are considered. End-users are often faced with deciding which actuation method to use: should it be manual only or automatic only? Should it be a combination and should the manual activation be electrical or mechanical?... (more)