Eskom update: Load shedding suspension remains 'on the horizon'

Eskom UPDATE: Load shedding suspension remains ‘on the horizon’

Repairs at Eskom’s Majuba power station in Mpumalanga have placed the country closer to the suspension of load shedding.

Repairs at Eskom’s Majuba power station in Mpumalanga have placed the country closer to the suspension of load shedding. Image-iStock

Repairs at Eskom’s Majuba power station in Mpumalanga have placed the country closer to the suspension of load shedding, Electricity and Energy Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said.

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Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, the minister reassured South Africans that the implementation of load shedding at the weekend was not due to sabotage, but technical issues.

“We are going to have a review later this evening and then we can make an announcement, a promise we make, is a promise we will keep,” Ramokgopa said at an engagement held in Johannesburg.

Recent setbacks

The minister explained that despite 300 consecutive days of uninterrupted power supply, recent setbacks occurred, including the loss of five generation units at Majuba and four units at Camden power stations.

He added that the setback experienced at the weekend where the power utility implemented Stages 3 and 6 of load shedding were regrettable.

“The setbacks we experienced are regrettable, but we are now able to bounce back, we are coming back much faster than we thought. It is important that we have the lights on for the South African economy,” the minister said.

Ramokgopa’s comments come as Eskom is currently implementing Stage 2 load shedding from Monday’s Stage 4.

At a briefing on Sunday, the minister assured the nation that the country will overcome the current bout of load shedding by the end of the week.

“I’m confident that by the end of the week, we should be out of this difficult situation. We are confident we’re going to go to conditions of normality. By the end of the week there will not be [any] load shedding,” he said at the time.