‘We could still have load shedding for another 9 – 12 months’, Gordhan

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday told the National Assembly at a debate sitting that load shedding was not the ANC’s fault and that it stems back to the 1980s.

“In 1983 under a different government, we had load shedding which led to a decision to build several power stations which were eventually completed early 1990s and are still problematic so not everything is the fault of the ANC.”

Gordhan also reiterated that the issue is because of the history of Eskom as well as the slow recovery rate of power stations.

“We are going to work hard with every entity involved to ensure stability. We certainly agree that everything must be done to ensure a stable electricity supply.

When asked if the new proposed 32% electricity tariff increase would ensure that load shedding was a thing of the past, he said there were no instant answers and a lot of work still needed to be done.

“There will be eventually no more load shedding once we have more megawatts connected to the system. It is not going to happen overnight. To be frank with the SA public, the government has said repeatedly – we could still have load shedding for 9 – 12 months.

“We want to limit it to Stage 2 load shedding, if possible. The Eskom management at a power station level management needs to do more to ensure that those plants are maintained properly, they run efficiently and they minimise the discomfort and the costs for citizens and businesses.

On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa warned that load shedding is here to stay, adding that while there is no quick fix for the deliberate power cuts, “real progress is being made.”

The president was addressing the nation during his weekly newsletter “From the Desk of the President”.

“As we continue to experience load shedding, there is a great temptation to give up hope that we will ever solve this problem. Yet, if we look just beyond the most immediate crisis, there are real signs of progress and good reasons to be optimistic,” Ramaphosa said.

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