SA army deployed to several Eskom power stations

President Cyril Ramaphosa has requested that the SA army be deployed to several Eskom power stations to protect against the theft of essential components.

THE SA ARMY HAS BEEN DEPLOYED TO SEVERAL ESKOM POWER STATIONS

According to reports, Brigadier Andries Mahapa confirmed that the SANDF has already been deployed to some power stations to protect against the theft of essential components.

He said they cannot disclose the areas yet, but power stations are being identified by the intelligence report.

“Some of our members are currently going to those stations [and ] some are there already,”

Mahapa reportedly said.

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‘POWER STATIONS BEING IDENTIFIED BY THE INTELLIGENCE REPORT’

He furthermore told the media that a full report of the areas where the army will be deployed would be released on Sunday morning.

This comes days after the news broke that Eskom’s Group Chief Executive Officer, Andre de Ruyter, resigned from his position this week.

De Ruyter’s resignation comes after several calls for his head from politicians and sections of the larger public.

THIS IS TO PROTECT STATIONS AGAINST THE THEFT OF ESSENTIAL COMPONENTS

According to reports, he informed Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana of his decision to call it quits earlier this week. Makwana in turn informed Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

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Earlier this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation about the country’s energy crisis. 

HERE ARE FIVE THINGS THAT WERE DISCUSSED BY RAMAPHOSA

Here are the five major things you should know from the family meeting. Take note we are still waiting to see these changes despite the family meeting in July. 

FIRSTLY– IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF ESKOM’S EXISTING FLEET OF POWER STATIONS

Over time, the maintenance programme of Eskom’s electricity generation fleet has declined. It is now been decided that over the next 12 months, Eskom will increase the budget allocated for critical maintenance to increase the reliability of its generation capacity

SECONDLY, IT WILL ACCELERATE THE PROCUREMENT OF NEW-GENERATION CAPACITY

The relevant government departments are working together to ensure that all projects from Bid Window 5 of the renewable energy programme can start construction on schedule.

THIRDLY, TO MASSIVELY INCREASE PRIVATE INVESTMENT IN GENERATION CAPACITY

The licensing threshold for embedded generation will be removed completely. This will enable private investment in electricity generation to rise to higher levels.

While they will not require licenses, all new-generation projects will still have to register with the regulator and comply with the technical requirements for grid connection and our environmental legislation.

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FOURTH, ENABLE BUSINESSES AND HOUSEHOLDS TO INVEST IN ROOFTOP SOLAR

There is significant potential for households and businesses to install rooftop solar and connect this power to the grid. To incentivize greater uptake of rooftop solar, Eskom will develop rules and a pricing structure – known as a feed-in tariff – for all commercial and residential installations on its network.

FINALLY, TRANSFORMING THE ELECTRICITY SECTOR AND POSITIONING IT FOR FUTURE SUSTAINABILITY:

Eskom will be restructured, which will result in three entities, namely an electricity generation entity, an electricity transmission entity and an electricity distribution entity.

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