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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
It said that “the American embassy has already put in place an emergency plan to evacuate all its workers and citizens at short notice”.<\/p>\n
“South Africans are assured that the country’s energy challenges are receiving priority at the highest level to resolve the situation,” said Liphoko.<\/p>\n
He said government was confident that measures it was introducing would prevent a complete blackout.<\/p>\n
It was committed to finding a long-lasting solution to address the energy situation.<\/p>\n
Liphoko urged all electricity users, including residential, government, industries and business to ignore the hoax messages.<\/p>\n
He said Eskom is the only source of information on issues pertaining to electricity.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll South Africans are part of the country\u2019s energy solution by adhering to the power alerts during critical periods, which help protect the national grid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile 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.”<\/p>\n
How much Eskom blackouts costs SA every month<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n This family lives completely off Eskom\u2019s grid<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n