Government shares responsibility with Eskom for the power problems gripping the country, Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
“The government co-owns the problem because some of the factors that led us into the situation have to do with policy,” he told reporters in Johannesburg.<\/p>\n
This included electricity pricing set by the National Energy Regulator of SA.<\/p>\n
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is overseeing interventions in the state-owned power producer, visited Eskom’s headquarters earlier on Thursday, Matona said.<\/p>\n
“We welcome government coming to the support of Eskom, in recognition that we alone cannot get ourselves out of this situation.”<\/p>\n
In November, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said Cabinet had approved measures valued at around R20 billion to help Eskom deal with the problems it faces.<\/p>\n
Matona said he could not divulge the details of this intervention.<\/p>\n
“I am not at liberty to go into the substance of that.”<\/p>\n
Rather, the Government Communication and Information System would tell the public in time.<\/p>\n
Matona reiterated that the country’s power supply would remain severely constrained in the coming months while Eskom dealt with its maintenance backlog.<\/p>\n
He likened Eskom to “a ship sailing through difficult waters” and a car that had not had regular maintenance.<\/p>\n
“If you continue to drive it without maintaining it, it will carry you, but at some point it breaks down. I think this is what is happening with many generating units of Eskom.”<\/p>\n
Like an unreliable car, this could lead to embarrassment, he said.<\/p>\n
He said maintenance, like a religion at Eskom, had been neglected in recent years and at times was deferred to keep the lights on.<\/p>\n
“We have reached the point where it does not allow us to continue the practice,” Matona said.<\/p>\n
“We have decided as a company, and supported by government, to do the right thing, by getting down to our maintenance religion and doing it properly.”<\/p>\n
In February 900 megawatts would be taken off the grid when one of Koeberg nuclear power station’s units would undergo maintenance.<\/p>\n
South Africans would need to learn to cope with rotational power cuts as the system would remain severely constrained until new generating capacity was added.<\/p>\n
While “load shedding” pained Eskom, it was necessary to prevent a total blackout, which could take around two weeks to resolve.<\/p>\n
“We need to deal with this as a national challenge,” he said.<\/p>\n
Eskom problems could take a decade to fix<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n When to expect Eskom\u2019s next load shedding<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n