Over 35 days of no load shedding, but will it last?

With less than a month before the national and provincial elections, South Africans are continuing to taste the luxury of suspended load shedding, but for how long?

South Africans have welcomed the extended suspension of the rolling blackouts after experiencing unrelenting bouts of power cuts.

After a continuous period of 36 consecutive days of no load shedding, citizens fear that after the election, the rolling blackouts will return.

Energy availability

However, Eskom in a post on X on Tuesday shared this achievement highlighting the increase in Energy Availability Factor (EAF).

“Today (1 May 2024), our Unplanned Capacity Loss Factor (UCLF), also known as unplanned outages, has reached 10,966 MW.

“This achievement by our Generation team represents a significant milestone in our Generation Operational Recovery Plan and has contributed to an energy availability factor of 65% since midnight.  We are now 35 days into the suspension of load shedding, thanks to our team’s sustained and deliberate efforts,” Eskom said.

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Election ploy

Earlier this week, the Presidency said there was no truth to claims that the suspension of the rolling blackouts was part of a ploy to buy votes for the African National Congress (ANC) in the lead up to the national and provincial elections.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya denied the claims.

“The Presidency rejects claims that recent improvements in the energy supply are a ploy related to the upcoming elections.

“The Presidency will, therefore, like to remind the public the actions taken since President Ramaphosa announced the Energy Action Plan (EAP) in July 2022 have had a direct impact in reducing the severity and frequency of load shedding, which was the primary objective of the plan,” Magwenya said.

Magwenya said the Energy Action Plan (EAP) outlined a multi-pronged strategy to end load shedding, including improving Eskom’s plant performance, accelerating the procurement of new capacity, enabling private investment in electricity generation, and supporting rooftop solar.

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