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The rainbow nation has reached a notable milestone with 40 consecutive days passing without the dreaded load shedding, a period that has seen citizens cautiously optimistic yet hesitant to fully celebrate the prolonged respite from power outages.
In a press briefing on Monday, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa lauded this achievement as an exceptional run without power cuts.
He took a moment to express sincere appreciation to the team at Eskom for its diligent commitment to addressing the persistent challenge of load shedding, acknowledging the sterling efforts made amid what he described as an exceptionally difficult situation.
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Ramokgopa, aware that he was kind of praising fish for swimming, said: “Of course, an argument can be made that this is what is expected of them. Yes, it is expected, but I'm sure you know that we're moving from an exceptionally difficult situation.”
He said:
Eskom, in a statement released on Sunday, attributed the continued suspension of load shedding to sustained improvements in generation performance, coupled with a substantial reduction of 4 400MW in unplanned outages.
The success of the generation operational recovery plan, initiated in March 2023, has significantly contributed to curbing unplanned outages, technically known as the unplanned capacity loss factor.
Looking at the months ahead, Ramokgopa said that Eskom's winter outlook confirmed that there had been structural improvement in relation to electricity generation in the country.
He said that, since we are in the "silly season", talking about the election season, "there will be a number of extrapolations and interpretations of what is before us, whether there’s a correlation between these improvements and the 29 May elections."
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“My answer is simple. When I was appointed and given this assignment, I entered into a pact with the country to give weekly or biweekly updates on the progress that we're making. Even during the most difficult times, we're able to share with you the kind of work that we're doing.”
The minister said:
“In MW terms, about 9 000MW. Unprecedented in the past three years. As a result of this fiscal support but also Eskom following philosophy maintenance as a result of the leadership provided by the board, led by Mteto Nyati, and the executive management team led by Dan Marokane and, of course, Bheki Nxumalo on the generation side, together with the many men and women who are committed to resolving this problem and are located at the various power stations,” Ramokgopa said.
Ramokgopa said they want to get to a stage where we go months and years without power cuts.
“It’s one day after the other. We accumulate the days, we accumulate the months, the quarters and the years, getting closer to energy security,” he said.
READ: Ending load shedding right now could come back to haunt us in the long run, says Ramokgopa
Talking about his beloved trendlines, Ramokgopa said: “In the same period in May [2023], our unplanned capacity loss factor, the number of megawatts that we lost moved from 16 100MW to about 18 000MW. So, in May last year, at this time, we were sitting at losses of 18 196MW.
“By Sunday, 5 May, this number was at 11 036MW. So, essentially, we've been able to recover, as a result of this concerted effort by these distinguished men and women, starting with the board and [going to] the lowest member of the Eskom team.”
Ramokgopa said:
