Eskom blackout warning hoax

·10 Feb 2015

Government on Tuesday dismissed a hoax statement saying it had been warned by Eskom the main power grid could crash, plunging the country into darkness for over two weeks, the department of communication said.

“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,” said acting director-general Donald Liphoko in a statement.

The hoax message reportedly circulated on BBM saying that Eskom “notified the government in a special meeting that the main grid can crash at any time soon leaving the entire country in darkness for over two weeks”.

It said that “the American embassy has already put in place an emergency plan to evacuate all its workers and citizens at short notice”.

“South Africans are assured that the country’s energy challenges are receiving priority at the highest level to resolve the situation,” said Liphoko.

He said government was confident that measures it was introducing would prevent a complete blackout.

It was committed to finding a long-lasting solution to address the energy situation.

Liphoko urged all electricity users, including residential, government, industries and business to ignore the hoax messages.

He said 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.”