Eskom: The Slight Improvement Is Not Enough To Suspend Load Shedding

Eskom blamed the power grid’s volatility on a swell of unplanned generation unit breakdowns and a weather-related surge in national usage. At the height of this week’s troubles, Eskom’s capacity had been reduced by 16 000MW.

Deputy President David Mabuza — who serves as head of the Eskom Task Team — appeared before parliament’s National Council of Provinces to answer tough questions regarding the utility’s dismal performance. Mabuza reiterated government’s commitment to unbundle Eskom into three separate entities but strongly dismissed murmurs of privatisation.

Despite managing to carry out successful repairs on a few generation units at key power stations, the threat a weekend disrupted by load shedding remains. The latest update from the embattled power utility comes after a particularly dismal week, with South Africans beleaguered by Stage 2 and Stage 4 load shedding since Tuesday.

Eskom revealed that South Africa could be plagued by sporadic load shedding until 2022.