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WATCH: ‘Government must act to end load shedding’ – ANC’s Pule Mabe
Load shedding has driven South Africans to breaking point with January the only month with no deliberate power cuts.
Photo: iStock
The African National Congress (ANC) has raised concerns after ailing state-owned entity Eskom ramped up load shedding to stage 6 on Wednesday, saying its deployees in government must act to end the deliberate power cuts.
Stage 6
Eskom said stage 6, which was last implemented in September 2022, will continue unabated at least until 5am on Friday morning whereafter stage 5 will be implemented until 5am on Saturday morning.
The deliberate power cuts have driven South Africans to a breaking point of anger frustration with January the only month where there was no load shedding, according to Outlier.
ANC deployees must take action
The load shedding has also frustrated the ANC whose national elective conference is expected to kick off next week at Nasrec in Johannesburg.
Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, ANC national spokesperson Pule Mabe said there must be “decisive action” on load shedding.
“I was not aware that we are not hitting stage 6 load shedding. This is quite concerning. I don’t think it is enough for us to keep on calling on Eskom, I think South Africans expect action from the ANC. Our deployees in government must act.”
“We can’t keep on calling. We have called on Eskom… I think its now time for action because industries are affected, the media are being affected, the whole public life is being affected by this,” Mabe said.
ALSO READ: More pain as Eskom ramps up load shedding to stage 6
Breakdowns
Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said since Tuesday night, breakdowns of two generating units at Grootvlei Power Station occurred, as well as a unit each at Arnot, Duvha, Kendal, Kriel and Tutuka power stations.
“In addition, two units at Arnot, a unit each at Camden, Kendal and Kriel power stations have been delayed in returning to service. A unit at Matla Power Station returned to service late last night. We currently have 4 984MW on planned maintenance, while another 19 052MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.”
No money for diesel
Mantshantsha said Eskom has no money for diesel to keep the lights on.
“As previously communicated, due to the depletion of the budget to acquire diesel for the open cycle gas turbines, Eskom has been forced to strictly preserve the remaining diesel for any extreme emergency situations such as multiple, simultaneous trips of generators.”
He said the pumped storage dam levels also need to be replenished during this load shedding.
Load shedding for a year
“The refuelling and maintenance outage starting tonight, as well as the long-term operation project of Unit 1 of the Koeberg Nuclear Power Station, together with the October chimney failure that has forced three generation units offline at Kusile Power Station, will further reduce available generation capacity and exacerbate the occurrence of load shedding over the next 6 to12 months.”
Eskom has requested the public to exercise patience and tolerance during this difficult period.
“Load shedding is implemented only as a last resort in view of the shortage of generation capacity and the need to attend to breakdown,” it said.
ALSO READ: Eskom power stations a hunting ground for criminals
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