Johannesburg - Who’s fooling who? This is the question as a power utility, Eskom, warns of implementing load shedding stag 8, while ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula promises an end to blackouts.
Speaking in an interview with a broadcaster, Mbalula said he is adamant that the government will end load shedding by the end of this year.
This is a complete contrast to the warning by acting Eskom CEO Calib Cassim, who yesterday told the media that during peak hours this winter, there is a very high likelihood of stage 8 load shedding.
This week, EFF leaders warned of an imminent collapse of the country's electricity grid for up to four days.
‘’In the next two weeks, we have been warned there is going to be darkness. We are almost at a point of grid collapse; it’s a reality that South Africans must know that we are heading towards darkness, and the ANC. Politicians are continuing business as usual as if we are not in a crisis. We are in a deep crisis; call phone networks will not work; we won’t have water because it needs electricity,’’ said EFF lead Julius Malema.
However, Cassim dismissed allegations by Malema of any grid collapsing.
‘’Eskom has the situation under control,’’ Cassim said.
He said they would indicate if the interventions that Eskom has planned for the winter do not achieve the desired outcomes.
‘’If the Unplanned Capability Loss Factor (UCLF) unplanned outages reach levels of 18 000 megawatts, then the likelihood of stage 8 load shedding during peaks is extremely high. I must take the opportunity again to reiterate that, in terms of a national blackout, we are confident that it will not occur because of the interventions and the control mechanisms that we have in place through a competent system-operated team,’’ Cassim said.
He further said: ‘’Load shedding is necessary to keep control of the transmission grid, which is critical. However, we will also indicate that if the interventions that we have planned for the winter do not achieve the desired outcomes’’.
When asked how soon the country can expect load shedding stage 8, Eskom Head of Generation Bheki Nxumalo said their focus is to reduce the stages from the current stage 6.
‘’There is no intention of us going to stage eight, but in an unlikely event, it will go there, but all the plans that we’ve shared with the public, we are looking to make sure that we don’t get there. You know where we are currently. We are very uncomfortable with the current stage 6 over peak, so all our plans and all our effort are really to move from where we are downstairs downward,’’ Nxumalo said.
He said they don’t expect more power plants to go off-line. Unless they are having a catastrophe, they are not expecting more damages and breakages than what they currently have.
‘’These three units have actually taken us backwards as well. And then later in the year, when we get Kusile 5, that will give us more breather as well. Those are all the efforts that we are currently putting in place now so that we never even go to that (stage 8). It is not part of the discussions that we are having as a generation team, and I really strongly believe in the team that I have within the generation that we can do our best to make sure that we are averting stage 8,’’ Nxumalo said.
Eskom Board Chairperson Mpho Makwana said the board would embark on an independent investigation to determine the veracity of former CEO Andre de Ruyter’s corruption allegations.
‘’We also take note of what De Ruyter said in his book; it must be noted and placed on record that trust was broken by his making those public statements and the publication of the book, and this trust was broken in the most repulsive manner possible,’’ Makwana said.
The utility apologised for the continued rollout of load shedding and also advised consumers to use energy sparingly.
The Star