‘Moody’s should stop day drinking’- Frustration overshadows Eskom ratings upgrade

Eskom has improved its ratings outlook, but not everyone is celebrating.

The Power utility announced on Saturday it has been upgraded from positive to stable by Moody’s Investment Services.

“Coupled with the upgrades of several key ratings, the stable outlook will improve Eskom‘s creditworthiness,” it said.

It thanked the government for its support, which it claimed was key to the upgrade and allowed it to keep the lights on.

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“The financial support from government has removed the financial barriers and bolstered Eskom’s financial position. This has enabled us to plan ahead for the implementation of the necessary planned maintenance on the generation fleet, maintain and strengthen the network thereby contributing towards improved performance and long-term sustainability,” said Acting Chief Executive Calib Cassim.

He called the Moody’s upgrade “reassuring” in efforts to turn Eskom around.

But those sitting in the dark because of load shedding were not in the party mood.

They flooded social media with reaction to the announcement, jokingly asking if Moody’s was “day drinking” and knew Eskom was battling to power the nation.

Stable but no lights?

Eskom announced stage 6 rolling blackouts this week due to planned maintenance and breakdowns, before lowering it to stage 3 and 4 for the weekend.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena told The Citizen load shedding will continue even when the Springboks kick off their Rugby World Cup campaign against Scotland on Sunday.

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“Unfortunately, we do not determine load shedding or stages thereof by the current or upcoming events. Load shedding is implemented based on the status of electricity supply versus demand at any given stage,” 

“Our generation availability is improving and currently at 27 139MW, however, we also rely on the demand side to further improve at evening peak to reduce the stages further,” Mokwena said on Friday.