POLL | Do you think Eskom is taking SA’s power crisis seriously?

13 September 2022 - 13:00
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Is Eskom failing or does the power utility need more time to solve the supply crisis? File photo.
Is Eskom failing or does the power utility need more time to solve the supply crisis? File photo.
Image: Bloomberg

South Africans are gatvol about Eskom’s decision to implement stage 4 load-shedding at short notice on Tuesday, with many claiming that despite endless apologies and promises, the power utility is not taking the energy crisis seriously.

The country has battled power cuts for several days, with load-shedding reduced to stage 3 from 5am on Monday and to stage 2 at 5am on Tuesday.

However, by 9am, Eskom informed SA it was heading back to stage 4.

“A sudden tripping of three Kendal power station units (1,920MW maximum generating capacity) has forced the implementation of stage 4 load-shedding. This will last until 5am on Thursday morning,” it said, giving South Africans one hour’s notice.

The latest escalation made many angry, with some claiming the power utility is “playing games” and was not serious about fixing the devastating power crisis.

The additional power cuts come hours after Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer admitted its maintenance programme is not yielding the required results, and warned of more load-shedding during summer.

“Many generating units return from planned maintenance only to suffer breakdowns again,” said Oberholzer.

“The standard and quality of work being done are not what they should be owing to lack of skills, particularly artisan skills, and skilled operators in Eskom and some of our partner contractors.”

According to public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, Eskom could implement 191 days of load-shedding during summer. 

As of Tuesday, SA had endured 99 days of load-shedding in the year to date, with more on the cards this week. According to popular app EskomSePush, SA has experienced 1,345 hours so far this year.

This would put it as the worst year for load-shedding to date.

According to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research annual stats, load-shedding occurred for 1,169 hours in 2021, with an upper limit of 2,521GWh. In 2020, load-shedding occurred for 859 hours, 530 hours in 2019 and 127 hours the year before that.  

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.


subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now

Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.

Speech Bubbles

Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.