‘We want to put load shedding behind us in 2024’ − Mashatile

As the country battles relentless load shedding, Deputy President Paul Mashatile said he is “confident” that the rolling blackouts will be a thing of the past in 2024.

Mashatile was speaking to the Parliamentary Press Gallery Association on Thursday night.

End of load shedding?

He said he was very worried about the frequency and intensity of load shedding, according to a SABC report.

“I have been very worried about load shedding. We are working closely with the Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. We want to put it behind us next year. We are going to push… but not push these power stations to a point of total breakdown.”

Mashatile said intensive maintenance was being done at power stations, in an effort to relieve the ongoing power cuts on a long-term basis.

“We are allowing minister Ramokgopa to do a lot of maintenance. So, if you see a bit of spike at the moment, they are doing intensive maintenance. They have taken a lot of them for maintenance. When they come back online, then you will see reduced load shedding.”

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Maintenance

Earlier this week, Ramokgopa said the country was plunged into higher stages of load shedding because Eskom was not “sticking to its planned maintenance schedule”.

Ramokgopa said South Africans should expect intensified power cuts to persist in the short-term.

“We are going to stick to planned and philosophy maintenance. We do accept that in the short-term, it’s going to result in the possibility of intensified load shedding,” said Ramokgopa.

Maeanwhile, embattled power utility Eskom has announced that load shedding will be reduced to stage 5 from 5am on Friday morning until 4pm.

Spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said they will publish another update on Friday afternoon.

“Due to improved generation capacity and emergency reserves, stage 5 load shedding will be implemented. We plead with members of the public to reduce the demand during the evening peak between 17:00 to 21:00,” Mokwena said.

ALSO READ: ‘Intensity of load shedding coming down’ – Ramokgopa