Load-shedding may have become a way of life for many South Africans over the past 14 years, but power cuts and an ailing power utility should not be treated as the new normal, said Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter on Wednesday.
Management at the state-owned company was working around the clock to address issues to limit load-shedding as much as possible.
He was speaking at a media briefing this week as SA battled through stage 2 of rotational power cuts.
“We should not accept load-shedding and the lack of generation capacity as the new normal. While it’s been going on for 14 years, we need to take urgent steps to address load-shedding.
“We have also taken steps to improve the operation of our grid access unit. We have taken heed of the comments received from investors and parties wanting to feed electricity into the grid,” said De Ruyter.
COO Jan Oberholzer revealed that SA has had 32 days of load-shedding since January, which is more than the power cuts implemented in the same period last year.
“We have assets that are ageing, some more than 45 years old. However, if we look at the maintenance execution which is at 98.8%, it shows that even if you have old assets, if you look after them, isn’t it amazing what respect they show back to you?”
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We should not accept load-shedding as the new normal: Eskom CEO
Image: Freddy Mavunda
Load-shedding may have become a way of life for many South Africans over the past 14 years, but power cuts and an ailing power utility should not be treated as the new normal, said Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter on Wednesday.
Management at the state-owned company was working around the clock to address issues to limit load-shedding as much as possible.
He was speaking at a media briefing this week as SA battled through stage 2 of rotational power cuts.
“We should not accept load-shedding and the lack of generation capacity as the new normal. While it’s been going on for 14 years, we need to take urgent steps to address load-shedding.
“We have also taken steps to improve the operation of our grid access unit. We have taken heed of the comments received from investors and parties wanting to feed electricity into the grid,” said De Ruyter.
COO Jan Oberholzer revealed that SA has had 32 days of load-shedding since January, which is more than the power cuts implemented in the same period last year.
“We have assets that are ageing, some more than 45 years old. However, if we look at the maintenance execution which is at 98.8%, it shows that even if you have old assets, if you look after them, isn’t it amazing what respect they show back to you?”
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
READ MORE:
Eskom CEO holds state of the system media briefing
Here’s how many more days of load-shedding we may have this winter
Stage 2 load-shedding back from 5pm due to failure of three generation units
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