By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, says he is confident that the country’s energy crisis will be resolved.
Speaking at the Kusile power station in Mpumalanga during his visit earlier today, Ramokgopa said his ultimate aim is to end load shedding.
Ramokgopa told Kusile power station senior management that government will assist where possible to end load shedding.
“We are all in this together, the problem of load shedding must end,” he said.
Ramokgopa has embarked on a two-week visit to Eskom power stations. This is to get first-hand experience on how the stations operate and what problems or challenges the management are experiencing in the running of the power stations.
Ramokgopa started the visits on Monday at the Kriel and Duvha power stations and today visited Kusile and Kendal power stations.
Kusile Power Station is designed to consist of six 800 megawatt coal-fired generating units for a total generating capacity of 4 800 megawatts.
The station is located about 15 kilometres north of Kendal Power Station near Witbank, in Mpumalanga.
“I am confident that we are going to resolve the electricity problem. We will be honest and transparent about where we are now in as far as resolving the problem.
“We have committed men and women with skills at Eskom. From the discussions we are having with Eskom, it is clear that the problem of load shedding will be resolved,” Ramokgopa said.
Ramokgopa said the problem is not with corruption but more on a technical side.
“The problems and challenges that we have here are technical problems, they have nothing to do with so-called corruption,” he said.
Ramokgopa said he intends taking the public into his confidence about resolving the country’s energy crisis.
“We will be honest and transparent on where we are in relation to the resolution of this problem. We will communicate that to the general public,” Ramokgopa said.
Meanwhile load shedding will remain suspended until 05:00 on Wednesday morning when Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented, Eskom announced on Tuesday afternoon.
Stage 3 load shedding will be implemented from 16:00 on Wednesday until 05:00 on Thursday. This pattern will be repeated until further notice.
According to Eskom, this is due to a slight improvement in available generation capacity and lower-than-anticipated demand.