‘Nothing to do with elections’ – says Minister on Eskom record run

South Africa’s Electricity Minister says the Eskom record of 27 days of no load-shedding has “nothing to do with elections.” With six weeks to go to General Election on Wednesday 29 May 2024, Minister Ramokgopa has cautioned those from attributing Eskom’s success to ANC electioneering.

NEW ESKOM RECORD

Eskom has kept the lights on in Mzansi for well over 540 hours so far in March/April 2024. Image: File

The South African covered the story last week when the SOE broke its previous record of 20 days with no load-shedding. The Minister said this was down to the hard work of countless talented men and women at Eskom. According to SA Government News Agency, the last Eskom record was achieved more than two years ago, in June 2022.

Moreover, Eskom says sustained generation capacity, adequate emergency reserves and reduced electricity demand have all played a role in the new Eskom record. Furthermore, the previous longest run after June 2022 was 19 days. This was between Friday 15 December 2023 (Rugby World Cup public holiday) and Tweede Nuwe Jaar on Tuesday 2 January 2024.

STAYS SUSPENDED FOR THE WEEK

The Electricity Minister delivered yet more good news on the Eskom record this week. Image: File

Better still, TimesLive reports that load-shedding remains suspended until Friday 26 April 2024. This is when the utility will provide another update. If it can maintain its current course, Friday represents 30 consecutive days, or 720 hours, with no load-shedding.

Whether it is an electioneering tool or not, the Eskom record sits in stark contrast to the quite literal dark days of 2023. Mzansi endured 332 days of interrupted power caused by load-shedding. Eskom says its teams are working diligently to maintain the record and ensure the recovery of additional generating capacity.

There have been a few more outages this week but a total of 2 070 MW of generating capacity is planned to be returned to service by Friday. In the meantime, the power utility urges South Africans to use electricity sparingly this week.

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