Cape Town – Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the country is experiencing stage 6 load shedding due to Eskom’s failure to adhere to its planned maintenance schedule.
He said that the lack of maintenance and investment in electricity generation units over time has led to the deterioration of the country’s generating capacity.
“Us as a team we have taken a view that part of the reason we are where we are as a country in relation to the deterioration of the generating capacity was that we have not been sticking to planned maintenance, we have not been sticking to philosophy maintenance.
Rolling blackouts have intensified partly because Eskom has started maintenance on long-neglected units. That’s the explanation from Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. #eNCA #DStv403 #QuestionThinkAct pic.twitter.com/GQ6hJe4HIZ
— eNCA (@eNCA) September 5, 2023
“And that had to do with the fact that Eskom’s balance sheet was severely compromised. There was little resources to invest on the maintenance side. And what had been happening over a period of time is that the units have been exploited without the necessary maintenance, planned maintenance, philosophy maintenance and this caught up with us and that’s why we are in this situation,” Ramokgopa said on Monday while giving an update on electricity supply.
To address this, the minister said that the government was now committed to sticking to a maintenance schedule, but this would result in intensified power cuts in the short term.
Electricity minister, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says Eskom hopes to minimise the impact of load-shedding ahead of planned maintenance and the loss of two generation units which has constrained the system, resulting in stage 6 load-shedding from this morning. #sabcnews
— SAfm news (@SAfmnews) September 5, 2023
Ramokgopa also noted that the country had exited the winter period with limited harm, but the focus now was on building resilience in the system through planned maintenance to ensure reliable electricity supply.
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Picture: Twitter/@Kgosientsho_R
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
