Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa and Eskom will avoid a ‘dark Christmas’

No load shedding will occur between 17 December 2019 and 13 January 2020. This is according to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Speaking to media in Johannesburg on Wednesday after engaging with Eskom, Ramaphosa noted that all Eskom employees’ leave is cancelled.

President Ramaphosa: #Eskom has given an assurance that From the 17th Dec 2019 to 13 January 2020 we should not be in a position to have any form of load shedding. I have instructed managers that all leave is cancelled.

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) December 11, 2019

“We believe that through all of this we will have management to be accountable. We believe that with the emergency recovery plan we will not have a dark Christmas,” he said, quoted by SA Gov News.

President Ramaphosa: We believe that through all this we will have management to be accountable. We believe that with the emergency recovery plan we will not have a dark Christmas. #Eskom

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) December 11, 2019

Today’s address by the president comes after Stage 6 load shedding — the most severe power cuts Eskom has ever implemented — struck the country without much warning on Monday.

At present, Stage 2 load shedding is in effect.

Many also criticised the president on Monday after he published what many felt was a tone-deaf newsletter, lauding the size of Medupi — one of Eskom’s most problematic power plants.

When I visited #Medupi power station for the first time two weeks ago, I was struck by how massive it is. It is one thing to be told in a briefing that, when completed, Medupi will be the fourth largest power stations of its kind in the world. https://t.co/bjq7hpTNO7 pic.twitter.com/bupuy34lWq

— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) December 9, 2019

Cyril Ramaphosa: Sabotage also to blame for Eskom woes

Ramaphosa also noted that part of the issues, along with wet coal and a breakdown at Medupi, was a boiler trip caused by sabotage. The sabotage cost Eskom a further 2000MW of available capacity.

“We must also investigate the sabotage and they must immediately work with SAPS and intelligence,” he said.

“We want security increased so that no one ever gets the opportunity to engage in acts or sabotage.”

Kusile coming online in June 2020

Cyril Ramaphosa noted that Kusile Unit 1 will be online from 1 June 2020. It’ll add 800MW to the grid. If completed, all three units will add 2400MW to Eskom’s installed capacity.

President Ramaphosa:Our government is working to ensure that the Medupe and Kusile come on stream. And next year around June unit 1 of Kusile comes on stream. #Eskom pic.twitter.com/u4RWCrXsC9

— SA Gov News (@SAgovnews) December 11, 2019

Developing…

Feature image: President Cyril Ramaphosa by ITU Pictures via Flickr (CC BY 2.0)