eskom load shedding

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – APRIL 06: Pravin Gordhan during the memorial service of struggle icon Ahmed Kathrada at St. George’s Cathedral on April 06, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. The memorial service was as much a celebration of the legacy of the struggle icon as it was a platform for activists and politicians to speak out against injustices in South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Lulama Zenzile)

Eskom: Gordhan says load shedding could be the result of sabotage

Eskom has been embattled by ongoing industrial action undertaken by employees and trade unions.

eskom load shedding

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA – APRIL 06: Pravin Gordhan during the memorial service of struggle icon Ahmed Kathrada at St. George’s Cathedral on April 06, 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa. The memorial service was as much a celebration of the legacy of the struggle icon as it was a platform for activists and politicians to speak out against injustices in South Africa. (Photo by Gallo Images / Beeld / Lulama Zenzile)

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has laid bare the problems facing Eskom which have manifested in prolonged load shedding.

South Africans have managed to avoid the terror of rolling blackouts for almost a decade. The last time the country suffered consecutive bouts of load shedding was back in 2008. Then, the electrical grid shuddered and spluttered, disrupting the lives of millions of South Africans.

While things are not quite that bad today, the same darkness which embattled the local economy ten years ago threatens to reappear in calamitous fashion as a result of Eskom’s operational incompetence.

On Thursday afternoon, Gordhan held a media conference at Eskom’s Megawatt Park headquarters. Flanked by Eskom’s senior executives, the Public Enterprises Minister revealed why the power utility was failing and what emergency procedures would be implemented to mitigate load shedding and further operational malaise.

Load shedding: A multifaceted problem

While the deterioration of Eskom’s potential has been analysed and publicised ad nauseam, Gordhan reiterated that corruption, nepotism and general mismanagement have led South Africa’s most vital state entity down a road of destruction.

Gordhan explained that Eskom’s misgivings were directly related to state capture, and that under the dubious tenure of previous management structures, proper procurement processes were flouted. While the minister didn’t mention names, it’s well known that Eskom, under the despotic rule of Brian Molefe, inked a coal supply deal with Tegeta – a Gupta owned company which has since been placed under business rescue administration.

And while Eskom’s dire coal shortage has been defined as the greatest danger facing the utility’s power production, Gordhan explained that the current wave of load shedding resulted from poor maintenance, saying:

“When you capture an entity like this, you don’t do it for fun. You capture it because you can extract resources from it. We all know that recapturing institutions that were under state capture is not the favourite thing that people want.

We have to strengthen our capacity for monitoring and understanding.”

As reported by EWN, Gordhan pointed to serious budgetary constraints which enveloped the power utility in 2010 as a cause for the disastrous maintenance plan which has now manifested in load shedding, saying:

“As a result if you had another 2,500 of what they call the reserve margin, in other words, that’s the safety that needs to be kept all the time in order for the system to work, then we are unable to meet the current demand of about 29,000 megawatts, which is what you have in summer.

The Department of Public Enterprises should have a handle on what’s going on, but we have one energy expert so we have no capacity.”

“Let’s call it sabotage”

The Public Enterprises Minister also referenced the presence of nefarious elements hellbent on destroying Eskom infrastructure. While the minister only eluded to sabotage without mentioning names, Eskom has been embattled by ongoing industrial action undertaken by employees and trade unions. Protest action reached a fever pitch earlier in the year when it was first revealed that disgruntled factions had damaged the electricity grid. While trade unions have always strongly denied their role in the alleged sabotage, Gordhan explained that these acts have severely undermined the company’s operational capabilities, saying:

“We are not sure yet whether there’s an element of undermining of the power system as well, let’s call it sabotage.”

Gordhan’s plan to get Eskom back on track

Gordhan has promised to implement emergency strategies which would minimise the risk of load shedding. The aim, Gordhan says, is to retract load shedding cycles before Christmas. For that to happen, Eskom needs all hands on deck.

As a result, Gordhan has cancelled festive season leave for all of Eskom’s senior executives and plant managers, saying:

“All senior managers of Eskom have been asked to cancel their leave.

There’ll be a very intensive look over the next 10 days, that’s part of the action plan to understand exactly what the nature of the problems is, which ones are easily fixable and which ones will take some time to fix.

We will need a week-by-week plan in terms of who is taking responsibility for what. And consequence management – someone must take the fall for it [prolonged load shedding].”