Eskom CEO Jabu Mabuza on Thursday moved to quash claims by the DA’s Natasha Mazzone that the power utility knew in advance that load-shedding would be implemented this week.
In September, Mazzone issued a press statement where she said they had “reliable information” of an imminent threat of impending blackouts.
She wrote to Mabuza, seeking clarity on the matter. Experts had also warned of the looming power cuts, but Eskom maintained there was no cause for alarm, despite admitting earlier this year that its generation system was not operating optimally.
Eskom at the time replied via a statement denying the allegations, saying there was “no planned load-shedding expected in September or October as indicated by the DA”.
This week, three weeks after that statement, Eskom unexpectedly implemented stage two load-shedding.
Responding to this, Mabuza said he never said there would be no load-shedding, as there was always a possibility of unplanned outages.
He said he could not have predicted the events that unfolded this week.
“What I did say was that at the time [was]… we have issued no such communication. We had not communicated that. I was very clear in my mind that the [load-shedding] communication had not come out of Eskom.
“This load-shedding which has occasioned now - I certainly could not have planned to snap a conveyor belt which is what pushed us over the 10,500MW,” said Mabuza.
The snapped conveyor belt which transports coal to the Medupi power plant, along with the tripping of several systems, led to Eskom cutting off the power supply amid two days of stage two load-shedding.
Stage one of load-shedding was expected to be implemented on Friday. The power utility said it would try to keep the lights on at the weekend.
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