Cape Town – Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has said that South Africans could still experience load shedding for the next 9-12 months.
Gordhan said this while speaking at the National Assembly Plenary on Wednesday, where he faced several questions around Eskom – ranging from power cuts to proposed tariff increases.
“There will be eventually no more load shedding once we have more megawatts connected to the system. It is not going to happen overnight. To be frank with the South African public, the government has said repeatedly – we could still have load shedding for 9 – 12 months,” Gordhan said.
He added: “We want to limit it to Stage 2 load shedding, if possible. The Eskom management at a power station level management needs to do more to ensure that those plants are maintained properly, they run efficiently and they minimise the discomfort and the costs for citizens and businesses.
“We are going to work hard with every entity involved to ensure stability. We certainly agree that everything must be done to ensure a stable electricity supply.”
Gordhan also answered questions about the new Eskom board and how it would oversee the running of the power utility.
The minister met recently with members of the Eskom board whose term expired in 2021 and was extended subject to a review.
A statement said that Gordhan had been in constant engagements with the board on various matters pertaining to the current generation challenges and other energy related matters such as procurement, recruitment of former and experienced Eskom employees, and combating fraud and corruption.
“That [new] board will review the entire management system of Eskom. It will also review the current operations of Eskom and make the necessary recommendations in respect of any changes that need to be made,” Gordhan said.
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Picture: Twitter/ @PravinGordhanZA
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
