Cape Town – Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has expressed concerns about the possibility of load-shedding extending beyond December.
According to Times Live, he specifically highlighted issues at the Koeberg power station and said that the situation required urgent attention.
“I’ve asked for a more detailed report, and the more we get an indication of what the issues are, the more we are getting very worried. It is something that requires urgency.
“Once we have an overlap of unit 1 not coming on stream and unit 2 having to be taken out [for maintenance], the net picture, from where we are now, we will have lost [another] 920MW,” the report quoted Ramokgopa as saying.
Ramokgopa acknowledged that load-shedding had reached an extreme level with stage 6, and while he hoped it would not happen again, he did not rule out the possibility of returning to that stage in the future.
He issued an apology to the nation for the implementation of Stage 6 load shedding, which occurred last week due to breakdowns and delays in restoring generating units.
Ramokgopa expressed his sincere apology and said that that load shedding was unacceptable.
“I want to express our sincere and profuse apology for having taken you through a very difficult stage of intensive load shedding.
“Firstly, load shedding is unacceptable. The second part is that going to higher stages of load shedding, especially Stage 6, should not become the norm. If anything, that should constitute an extraordinary occurrence. The intensity of load shedding that goes beyond Stage 4 is something that should be unacceptable and it’s something that, to the degree that we can… we will do everything to avoid,” the minister said during a media briefing on Monday.
[WATCH] Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa apologises for the escalating stages of #loadshedding. “#Loadshedding is unacceptable, and going to higher stages like #stage6 should not be a norm.” #Eskom #Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/MRePHAqcB3
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 17, 2023
Currently, the country is experiencing stage 3 and stage 1 load-shedding.
Ramokgopa previously said that it would not be possible to eliminate load-shedding by the end of 2023 but emphasized that efforts were being made to minimise its severity and support economic recovery.
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Picture: Twitter/@Kgosientsho_R
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
