Good news, Eskom suspends load shedding

Ailing state-owned entity Eskom has suspended load shedding from Monday morning, but that’s only expected to last until 4pm, barring any further breakdowns.

The parastatal said there had been an improvement in generation capacity which allowed it to impose lower stages of electricity rationing.

Stage 4

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said stage 4 load shedding will kick in from 4pm on Monday until Tuesday morning.

“At 21:36 [on Sunday] load shedding was suspended. Eskom will publish another update as soon as any significant changes occur.”

She said breakdowns have been reduced to 15 846MW of generating capacity, while the planned maintenance is at 2 239MW.

“Over the past 24 hours, a generating unit each at Kendal, Kriel, Matla and two generating units at Lethabo power stations were returned to service. Cahora Bassa was returned to service during the same period after a failure on Friday afternoon.”

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Breakdowns

“In the same period, a generation unit each at Arnot, Camden and Medupi power stations were taken out of service due to breakdowns.

The further delays in returning to service a generating unit at Grootvlei, Hendrina, Majuba and Tutuka power stations are contributing to the current capacity,” Mokewena said.

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Sabotage

Meanwhile, police are reportedly investigating allegations of sabotage against a senior executive at the power utility. The executive could be behind the continuous breakdowns experienced at Eskom’s power stations.

According to a City Press report, the executive has top-secret security clearance and appointed a coterie of specific engineers and workers that ensure there are breakdowns at certain power stations. They have also been allegedly profiting from fixing the breakdowns.

Investigations

In an interview with City Press, Police Minister Bheki Cele said leaked WhatsApp messages were part of the investigation.

My guys heard the executive talking to me and said this was someone of high interest because an individual in such a high-ranking position must know more than that person was telling us,” said Cele.

Additional reporting by Gareth Cotterell

ALSO READ: Eskom exec linked to sabotage at power stations – report