Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has apologised for the unexpected return of loadshedding on Tuesday, 13 May, but said he remains confident that South Africa can still experience loadshedding-free winter.
Eskom implemented Stage 2 loadshedding during evening peak hours between 4pm and 10pm, which is expected to continue until Thursday evening.
Speaking during a briefing on Wednesday morning, Ramokgopa explained that the setback followed the delayed return of generation units and several breakdowns.
“We are working hard to ensure that loadshedding is not normalised,” said Ramokgopa, adding that some power station units have not returned to service as scheduled due to a range of challenges.
“Those units have not come back as a result of a multiplicity of reasons, some of them involving third-party players, the contractors, the OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) that have not delivered. That’s not for the public to worry about, but it is for us to manage.”
Ramokgopa said that the current setback was not due to engineering flaws but rather management issues.
“I’m the first to accept that in this instance, it’s not about the engineering of the unit. It has to do with how we managed the situation. We are having very difficult and candid conversations with the executive team to ensure we prevent such lapses going forward.”
VOC News
Photo: Supplied
