By Zukile Majova
YohWhatAYear: Scrolla.Africa is counting down the heroes and horrors of 2023. At number two on the naughty list is Eskom.
The year 2023 was supposed to mark a long-term turnaround for Eskom but it has been its worst year so far.
The power utility has already had over 300 days of load shedding, with electricity supply on 67 of these days plummeting to stage 6.
Stage 6 means residents experience up to 12 hours of load shedding in a 24-hour cycle.
There was no load shedding in 2017, then 14 days of load shedding in 2018, 30 days in 2019, 54 days in 2020 and 75 days in 2021.
The rolling blackouts became a permanent feature of the lives of ordinary South Africans in 2022 when there were 205 days of load shedding. The year 2023 has been the worst on record.
Responding to the 2022 levels of load shedding, President Cyril Ramaphosa started 2023 with the headache of getting two powerful ministers responsible for energy security to work together.
Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Public Enterprises, had been engaged in a turf war with Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, a coal fundamentalist who is determined to extend the lifespan of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations.
Mantashe emerged emboldened by his re-election as ANC chairperson at the December 2022 conference, with the ANC supporting Mantashe’s call for a slow transition to renewable energy sources.
To manage the turf war, Ramaphosa appointed Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as the Minister of Electricity responsible for resolving the load shedding crisis and driving the transition into low carbon emissions and renewables.
The horrible year ended with Eskom reporting its biggest financial loss at R21.2 billion while the government absorbed the power utility’s debt of R254 billion.
Load shedding is estimated to be costing the economy over R300 billion a year and millions of jobs while reducing economic growth by 2%.
Pictured above: Eskom.
Image source: X
