- South Africa’s state owned energy utility, managed and run by the ANC government, reports that Stage 4 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 today until 16:00 on Monday.
- Thereafter, Stage 5 loadshedding will be implemented until 05:00 on Tuesday.
- The pattern of Stage 4 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 and Stage 5 loadshedding from 16:00 to 05:00 will be repeated until further notice.
Under the leadership of President Ramaphosa, the country’s state owned power utility, Eskom, has been plagued by major incidences of theft, questionable equipment failure and acts of sabotage which, along with a legacy of poor planning, maintenance and corruption, over the last decade, has spiralled the country into a major energy crisis where daily blackouts are costing the economy a massive R950 million a day.
Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit at Arnot Power Station was successfully returned to service.
During the same period a generating unit each at Kriel, Medupi and Tutuka power stations were taken offline for repairs. The return to service of a generating unit each at Duvha, Medupi, Tutuka and two units at Hendrina power stations are delayed. The repairs to the damaged towers from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique is continuing and is anticipated to be completed by early next week.
Breakdowns currently increased to 17 008MW of generating capacity while 4 600MW of generating capacity is out of service for planned maintenance.
Author: Bryan Groenendaal
