Ramaphosa promises light at the end of the tunnel for load shedding
President Cyril Ramaphosa said that there should be light at the end of the tunnel for the country’s electricity crisis if the national energy plan continues to be executed.
Despite this rosy outlook, the president could not provide a set timeline or expected date for relief from the country’s rolling blackouts.
Responding to parliamentary questions posed by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) this Thursday (30 March), the president said that load shedding currently affects daily life across the country, businesses and livelihoods.
He said that the government’s primary focus remains on reducing the severity and frequency of load shedding through a range of interventions under the umbrella of the National Energy Crisis Committee (Necom).
Ramaphosa said that through his earlier appointment of the minister of electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, to head the committee – work is underway to execute the national energy plan.
The president said that some progress has been made, and deep discussions between the government, Eskom workers and engineers, among others, have taken place to hopefully lead to some reprieve from load shedding.
Despite his claims of progress, on 29 March, load shedding moved up to Stage 4 for the latter parts of this week. This comes after the country has experienced load shedding almost every day this year.
Load shedding is expected to worsen this coming winter, by analysts and researchers alike.
Delays in completing maintenance on the company’s sole nuclear power plant have caused concern with electricity demand traditionally spiking during the colder season, and, thus, more generating capacity is needed.
According to Virtual Energy and Power director Clyde Mallinson, the country is expected to experience severe power outages during winter unless Eskom increases the coal fleet’s capacity factor to 50% or more.
If this doesn’t happen, the country could experience stage 6 load shedding, especially in June, said the director.
Exemptions
Ramaphosa said that further work is underway to ensure that critical facilities across the country are excluded from load shedding, where it is feasibly possible without risking the likelihood of more load shedding.
He said that the following sectors had been excluded from rolling blackouts:
- Commuter rail infrastructure
- Bulk water systems and facilities
- Facilities that are essential to the production of energy
Calls have been made for hospitals to be exempted from load shedding; as many as 77 are currently exempted; however, more still face blackouts, making critical care harder to achieve.
Ramaphosa said that many of the public hospitals have alternative power supplies such as generators. The Department of Health has been working with Eskom to exempt more, he said.
Following Ramaphosa speaking on the current state of affairs for load shedding in South Africa, he was questioned about what the government was doing in the short term to address the lack of electricity brought on, not by load shedding, but by misconduct.
The president said that illegal connections, vandalism and the purposeful destruction of electricity infrastructure by criminal syndicates continue plagued communities.
Eskom has been working in collaboration with law enforcement to crack down on such activities, citing a handful of arrests.
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