Lungani Zungu
South Africans should brace themselves for more blackouts as the struggling power utility has implemented load-shedding for the week.
Jan Oberholzer, Eskom’s chief operating officer, said that they were forced to implement load-shedding amid a high demand for electricity and constrained power systems.
Oberholzer lauded Eskom as having “the best in the world system operations” but warned that South Africans will face more power cuts.
The power utility will move from stage 3 load-shedding to stage 2 from Tuesday until Friday if there are no improvements in the system, said Oberholzer.
“It just doesn’t get better,” Oberholzer said during a press conference on Monday, adding that 42 units had tripped but 37 had been restored to active service.
He apologised to the nation for the continued blackouts.
Oberholzer said the fruits of the turnaround strategy at Eskom may only be reaped after a year or more.
The acting head of generation at Eskom, Rhulani Mathebula, cited the multi-billion Kusile power station in Mpumalanga as the one which gave Eskom officials the biggest headache.
“We have a challenge of getting workers with the appropriate experience to be able to maintain the plant at Kusile,” said Mathebula.
