Good news as Eskom reduces load shedding ahead of Bafana Bafana clash

Eskom has delivered some good news ahead of Bafana Bafana’s Afcon semifinal clash against Nigeria announcing that it will reduce load shedding.

While South Africans would have preferred the rolling blackouts to be suspended altogether ahead of the big game, the parastatal said load shedding will be reduced to stage 1 and 2 on Wednesday.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said load shedding was reduced due to sufficient emergency reserves and a slight increase in available generation capacity, resulting from the return to service of two units.

Schedule

“Loadshedding will be reduced to stage 1 from 10:00 today until 14:00. Thereafter, stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 14:00 until further notice. Eskom will closely monitor the power system and communicate should it be required.”

Eskom has been juggling the rolling blackouts between stage 2 and stage 3 this week.

ALSO READ: Eskom juggles load shedding due to constrained emergency reserves − Here’s your schedule for the week

Balancing load shedding

Last month, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa emphasised the need for Eskom to strike a balance between mitigating the severity of the power cuts and adhering to the constraints of the diesel budget.

“[If ones asks] if you are making the claim that capacity available is greater than peak demand then why are we having load shedding is because 3 000 [megawatts] of capacity available has to be drawn from the open cycle gas turbines [OCGTs] which are burning diesel… so we have reduced our consumption on diesel,” he said.

New CEO

Meanwhile, Eskom’s new Group Chief Executive, Dan Marokane, will officially report for duty in March.

When announcing his appointment in December last year, Eskom said he would join the organisation no later than 31 March 2024.

Marokane was announced as the new Group Chief Executive of Eskom in December last year.

His appointment comes months after the resignation of former CEO André de Ruyter.

Eskom said Marokane is a qualified chemical engineer – who has an MBA – and is an executive with more than 20 years of senior leadership experience.

ALSO READ: Dan Marokane appointed new CEO of Eskom