Load shedding in South Africa is about to get much worse: analyst
South Africa has fallen over a load shedding tipping point as Eskom is the worst it’s ever been and is getting worse, says energy analyst Mike Rossouw.
Speaking to 702, Rossouw, who has previously served as an advisor to Eskom, said he had significant doubts about the system recovering and that South Africans should prepare for a lot more load shedding over more extended periods.
“The worst is, I have no view whatsoever in how (Eskom) is going to recover, considering the fact that their planning has collapsed, they are suffering from a lack of skills, the execution of work is way below the normal, and the breakdown rates are the worst they have ever been.”
Rossouw said that politicians need to stand up and take the blame as there has been a severe lack of leadership and accountability. He added that Eskom and the government are still playing the ‘blame game’ when someone needs to take responsibility.
He noted that Eskom was now in the ‘worst place it can possibly be’, as the power utility has failed to restore its fleet, faces continuous breakdowns, and grapples with money issues. He added that these issues have been exacerbated by the government’s failure to push through new regulations to allow independent power producers.
“I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. In fact, I see a big train coming towards us. We are definitely going to have to get used to sitting in the dark.”
Eskom is near a total collapse, he said.
Move to reassure
Despite these ongoing concerns, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan has moved to reassure the public that load shedding will subside this weekend.
Eskom is set to reduce load shedding on Thursday (28 October) to stage 3 with an additional 2,000MW of generating capacity set to come online, Gordhan said in a media briefing on Wednesday evening.
The minister said that further generating capacity is expected to return to service on Thursday and Friday, which would allow for a further downgrade to stage 2 load shedding.
He added that load shedding is set to end this weekend ahead of the local government elections on Monday (1 November).
“Eskom, and ourselves as government, are doing everything possible to ensure the elections are not disrupted in any way.”
Gordhan added that several contingency measures have also been put in place with the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) to ensure that power supply issues did not disrupt the elections.
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