Electricity supply remains constrained‚ Eskom warns

While in a “better position”‚ the country’s power system remained constrained‚ Eskom cautioned on Saturday morning.

It added that with the incoming cold weather‚ it anticipated added pressure on the system and called on consumers to use electricity efficiently throughout the day.

The power parastatal said it would provide regular updates on the status of the power system through all media platforms.

“We thank all consumers for heeding the call to reduce their electricity usage during this time.”

Eskom lifted stage 1 load shedding on Friday evening after earlier having had to implement the measure due to acts of “intimidation and sabotage” at some of its power stations amid industrial action by unions.

The unions were protesting against a wage freeze by the electricity provider‚ which Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Friday night was no longer an option.

Gordhan’s ministry said in a statement that had he called a meeting with the Eskom board‚ the management of the parastatal and of three labour unions‚ to deal with the problem.

He said it had been decided that negotiations over salary increases would resume “with immediate effect”.

“It was agreed that the 0% offer from Eskom is off the table‚” the statement read.

It continued: “The parties agreed that the current disruptions at Eskom that resulted in load-shedding since yesterday (Thursday) are not beneficial to either party nor to the country and the economy.”

It was also agreed‚ the statement read‚ that operations would be normalised to “ensure the security of electricity supply”.

This comes as load-shedding was implemented on Thursday and Friday‚ with Eskom saying that disruptions during the protest action by unions was to blame.

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