Dylan Bettencourt
Eskom confirmed that due to the industrial action protest, Stage 6 load shedding will be implemented from 4pm on Tuesday.
Earlier on Tuesday, Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter revealed that Stage 6 load shedding could later be implemented.
“Due to unlawful industrial action, Stage 6 load shedding will regretfully be implemented at 4pm to 10pm this evening,” the utility said in a statement.
The same Stage 6 load shedding times will also be implemented on Wednesday evening.
“This is due to the unlawful and unprotected labour action, which has caused widespread disruption to Eskom’s power plants,” the statement added.
Eskom also revealed that it lost 10 generating units on Monday night and several operations are disrupted due to protesting staff.
The Eskom CEO added that there have been positive discussions with unions regarding the strike with another meeting set for Tuesday.
However, even when the strike is resolved, there will be a major backlog in terms of maintenance.
“Even if the strike is resolved, there will be a big backlog of maintenance, which means more risk of load shedding,” De Ruyter said.
Although no protestors have been arrested the CEO said the utility is considering laying criminal charges in cases of arson or violence.
“We urge workers to follow the rule of law, and return to work. Regrettable that the interests of the whole country are at risk as workers try to extract more benefits from Eskom,” he said.
South Africa experienced Stage 6 load shedding only once before and that was in December 2019.
Eskom however believes that if staff return to full operation, the risk of going to a higher level of load shedding will be removed.
Image source: @BusinessLive
