By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Eskom says that it will suspend load shedding earlier than expected, with no rolling blackouts expected this weekend.
The stage 2 load shedding planned for 16h00 on Friday will also be downgraded to stage 1, it said.
Stage 1 load shedding will be implemented from 16h00 until 00h00. Thereafter, load shedding will be fully suspended.
“The generation system has recovered sufficiently at this point,” Eskom said. “While we are able to suspend load shedding at this point, Eskom cautions that the power system constraints persist. We urge the people of South Africa to continue using electricity sparingly.”
The threat of load shedding remains ever-present in South Africa, and will continue to linger over the heads of households until Eskom is able to build more capacity, it said.
South Africa has experienced continuous load shedding for over a month, after Eskom was forced to push the rolling blackouts to stage 6 for several days following illegal strikes at its power stations.
Eskom also said it is not aware of any proposal to hike its fixed connection service fees as high as R938 for some customers, as confusion and anger over the figure grows.
Under Eskom’s current fee structure, variable and fixed costs accumulated in producing electricity are paid for through a single electricity tariff — calculated per kWh of consumption.
Eskom said that tariffs need to be modernised to reflect the changing electricity environment to ensure fair recovery by all of the services to be provided by all grid users and the system.
While solar power users are not specifically mentioned or targeted by Eskom in its data, any households that make a concerted effort to lower their dependency on Eskom’s grid, and end up using less grid power as a result, would invariably draw the higher charges laid out in the proposal.
Under the proposed tariff structure, such a household would pay an additional R720 – taking the total charge to R938.
Eskom cannot provide an explanation for the proposed increase, as it is not part of any formal application.
Meanwhile Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has questioned the skills of Eskom CEO André de Ruyter, saying he isn’t the type of leader Eskom needs at the moment.
Mantashe described De Ruyter as an “alpha” who joins an institution after the fixer has done their work. “Eskom needs a fixer, a person who focuses on what is broken, and [who will] try to fix what is broken, and once he or she fixes it, moves on. Then you can have an alpha,” Mantashe said.
He also took aim at the Eskom board – which does not have an accountant or an engineer who arguably would be suited to deal with its debt burden and operational challenges. Mantashe said that the skills gap of executives and the board is something government should look into.
De Ruyter joined Eskom in January 2020, after the country experienced Stage 6 load shedding the prior year. Since he took over, he had to contend with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown eating into Eskom’s revenue while trying to manage the debt burden and the restructuring of the power utility.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to address the nation “soon” on a package of interventions from the government to tackle South Africa’s power crisis more urgently.