Power outages hoax dismissed
JOBURG – Government has dismissed power outages hoax that says the main grid could possibly crash and leave the nation in darkness for two weeks.
Following reports that suggest that there might be national blackout for two weeks in the future, acting Director-General of the Department of Communication Donald Liphoko speaks out.
National publications recently reported that Eskom warned the cabinets about the risk of a total national electricity blackout. According to reports, Eskom said if the system crashed, it would take at least two weeks to reboot.
However, Liphoko dismissed the claims.
“Government dismisses a hoax statement which is going viral, alleging that Eskom has notified government in a special meeting that the main grid could possibly crash and plunge South Africa into darkness for over two weeks,” said Liphoko.”South Africans are assured that the country’s energy challenges are receiving priority at the highest level to resolve the situation – the message regarding Eskom is not true and is meant to create unnecessary panic.
” Load shedding is a controlled and planned method to ensure that the power system is protected from a total blackout. Government is committed to finding a long-lasting solution to address the current energy situation and urges people to refrain from spreading rumors.”
He added that, “All electricity users, including residential, government, industries and business are urged to ignore the hoax messages. Eskom is the only source of information on issues pertaining to electricity.
“All South Africans are part of the country’s energy solution by adhering to the power alerts during critical periods which help protect the national grid. While it is important to consider all scenarios as part of planning, the national power grid is stringently managed so that we prevent any worst-case scenarios from taking place. Eskom and government will continue communicating with the public on any issues relating power supply,” said Liphoko.
