AFRICA ( commonwealth Union ) _ The public has been reassured by President Cyril Ramaphosa that the government is working to resolve the effects of load shedding on various societal and economic sectors.
Ramaphosa stated in his address to Parliament yesterday that the National Energy Crisis Committee and other government agencies were coordinating a number of initiatives with the goal of lessening the severity and frequency of load shedding.
The president was responding to an oral query from ANC MP Nokuzola Ndongeni, who asked if the government had thought about any interventions to make sure that load shedding did not negatively jeopardize and/or impact plans to provide services.
Ramaphosa stated that the government would concentrate on commuter train infrastructure, bulk water supply systems, and facilities necessary for energy production in order to ensure the continuity of basic services, particularly for the poor.
Even though breakdowns reduced the amount of generating capacity to 15 089MW and planned maintenance raised the amount of generating capacity out of service to 7 147MW, Eskom ramped up rotational load shedding to Stage 3 yesterday and Stage 4 today.
According to Eskom, the Lethabo, Kendal, and Kriel power stations each had a generating unit pulled out of service for maintenance, and the delays in getting a unit back into service at Hendrina, Medupi, and two units at Tutuka power stations added to the capacity issues.
The Cabinet agreed with the Minister of Electricity, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, that Eskom workers were essential to addressing the nation’s electricity problems.
Ramokgopa is presently touring all 14 power stations to get a first-hand understanding of the difficulties Eskom is currently facing at the power station level.
Due to prolonged load shedding and logistical challenges, the SA Reserve Bank yesterday marginally lowered South Africa’s growth forecast for 2023 from the 0.3% anticipated in January to 0.2%. As a result of the unabated load shedding and persistently high levels of power outages, the expense of agriculture and the food supply chain has increased significantly.
