Through collective efforts, loadshedding can be resolved, according to Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity.
Ramokgopa was speaking during his visit to the Kusile power station in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, where he was briefed by senior Eskom officials.
He kick-started his nationwide tour of the 14 power stations on Monday to engage with management, workers, and unions.
His first stop on Monday was at the Kriel and Duvha power stations, also in Mpumalanga.
“Job well done to the Duvha power station team for increasing their energy availability factor to 70% in the past month. Thanks to technical solutions, improved efficiency, agile leadership and hard work,” he said.
Ramokgopa said he believes that Eskom employees are at the heart of resolving the ongoing energy crisis.
“My view has always been [that] the biggest asset for any organisation is its workers, and the reason we’re starting from the bottom up is to appreciate and understand the efforts being made at the station level.”
Ramokgopa reiterated his commitment to the country that “we’ll be at the station level examining the issues that affect every unit”.
During his visits, the minister will compile information from the station manager, organised labour and workers about what are the interventions, in their opinion, that they think are appropriate to help scale up energy availability.
The minister said in the next seven days, he will continue to talk with workers to understand the nature and scale of the problem and update the energy action plan (EAP), which President Cyril Ramaphosa unveiled in 2022.
He said he believes that the EAP’s first pillar, which speaks to improving the availability of existing supply system stability and increasing generation capacity, is important.
Eskom announced on Monday that loadshedding had been suspended due to significantly lower-than-anticipated demand for electricity.
The power utility said loadshedding will return at 4pm on Tuesday, when the power cuts will be rolled out at stage two.
Meanwhile, Eskom has welcomed a decision to exempt the power utility from certain requirements in terms of its application to build temporary stacks at Kusile power station.
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