We urgently need to halt Eskom crisis

STAGE 2 load shedding started on Sunday but by Monday Eskom, facing a nationwide blackout, took the shocking step of implementing Stage 4 load shedding to cut

4 000 megawatts from the grid.

The last time the utility had to cut so much power from the grid was in 2014/15 and even then we did not go to Stage 4.

Yesterday, with emergency reserves still low, Eskom scaled this down to Stage 3 with the expectation that load shedding could continue at least until the end of the week.

Eskom chief executive Phakamani Hadebe has pointed to the challenges of old power stations and the fact that the newer Medupi and Kusile only produce half of what they should. And then on Monday the perfect storm, seven generating units tripped on the same day.

Aside from the inconvenience in the home and the traffic jams on the road, there is concern that load shedding is affecting the economy and investor confidence in South Africa at a time when we are focused on reigniting growth and creating jobs.

On Monday, President Cyril Ramaphosa said he was quite angry to hear of the load shedding and it was worrying that Eskom had reached such a level of dysfunction.

Using the metaphor of putting all one’s eggs in one basket, he said: “When the generator of energy in our country reports that there are six units (not functioning), it means all six eggs are broken and possibly we just have over a dozen eggs. It should not be like that.”

With Ramaphosa out of the country at an AU meeting, an emergency meeting was called between the Eskom board and Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan. A technical audit was promised so we can understand the problem and what needs to be done.

The problems at Eskom are not new and it is unsurprising that the opposition would use the State of Nation address debate to challenge Ramaphosa on the matter. One thing is clear, Eskom needs a new model which can minimise the risk, and after years of mismanagement and corruption, it needs it now.