By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
State owned power utility Eskom has given its latest load shedding update, laying out the expected schedule through to Wednesday (2 November).
Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 05h00 on Monday until 05h00 on Tuesday. Stage 2 load shedding will then be implemented during the evening peaks from 16h00 until midnight on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
Monday, 31 October
- Stage 2 – 05h00 to 00h00
Tuesday, 1 November
- Stage 2 – 00h00 to 05h00
- Stage 2 – 16h00 to 00h00
Wednesday, 2 November
- Stage 2 – 16h00 to 00h00
Eskom will publish a further update on Wednesday afternoon, or as soon as there are any significant changes.
Since yesterday afternoon, a unit each at Tutuka and Matimba power stations were taken offline for repairs. A unit each at Kendal, Kusile, Matla and Tutuka power stations were returned to service.
The group currently has 4,886MW on planned maintenance, while another 13,792MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
Although the full quantum of the debt takeover by the National Treasury is not yet known, Godongwana said it would be between one- to two-thirds of total debt, giving a range of R130 billion to R260 billion.
Treasury head of asset and liability management Duncan Pieterse says that Eskom would be required to sell off its noncore assets and make operational improvements if the government assumes part of its R400 billion debt. However, Pieterse added that the Treasury had not yet finalised the conditions to be attached to the Eskom debt takeover.
Amid these debt takeover formalities, South Africa has secured $500 million (R9 billion) to aid its just transition from coal to renewables. The Climate Investment Funds – a multilateral climate fund affiliated with the World Bank – had approved the funding.
For access to other load shedding schedules, Eskom has made them available on loadshedding.eskom.co.za.
Smartphone users can also download the app EskomSePush to receive push notifications when load shedding is implemented, as well as the times the area you are in will be off.