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A message from President Cyril Ramaphosa
FROM THE UNION BUILDINGS
As the system recovers and generation capacity is restored, Eskom will be able to reduce load shedding to lower stages. The agreement reached between Eskom and labour unions will enable critical repairs and return additional units to operation. The transmission line from Cahora Bassa in Mozambique has been restored, adding 600 MW to the grid, and Medupi Unit 6 returned to service recently, adding another 720 MW. Additional units are expected to come back online, further easing the current shortfall. At the same time, law enforcement agencies are working hard to tackle sabo-
We can and will do more to end load shedding
O
ver the past few weeks, severe load shedding has disrupted our
economy and caused extreme
12
hardship for all South Africans.
Stage 6 load shedding was
tage, theft and fraud at Eskom of generation capacity due
to address the threat that these
to unit breakdowns and an
criminal actions pose to the
unprotected strike by Eskom
electricity system.
workers. After more than a decade of
In the end, the bottom line is that we need to add more
electricity shortages, South
capacity to the grid. This will
Africans are right to feel frus-
create space for Eskom to
trated and angry. At times like
undertake critical maintenance
this, it can feel like there is no
and increase the reliability of
end in sight.
its fleet. It will also create a
Yet, while load shedding
buffer so that even if several
appears to worsen, the reality
units experience breakdowns
is that we have already taken
at once, other sources can be
several important actions to
used.
address the shortfall in electricity supply.
One of the first steps I took in 2018 was to revive the
triggered by the loss of more
Our immediate priority is to
renewable energy procure-
than 18 000 megawatts (MW)
stabilise the electricity system.
ment programme. In addi-
Public Sector Manager • July 2022
