Candle flame in the dark | Picture: iStock
The country never even got to experience the relief they were promised from load shedding on New Year’s Eve as the power utility has announced that yesterday’s announcement of a suspension of load shedding should be disregarded.
Eskom attributed their failure to deliver on their promise of uninterrupted electricity to “the breakdown of five generating units since yesterday afternoon.”
“It is no longer possible to suspend load shedding at 16:00 today as previously communicated. Stage 2 load shedding will therefore continue until further notice,” said Eskom in a statement.
Prior to this, the rolling blackouts were supposed to be suspended from 4 pm on Saturday until 5 am on Monday. Thereafter, the country was supposed to resume load shedding on a stage 2 schedule.
While many citizens have been left frustrated by devices and appliances that have been damaged as a result of load shedding, some businesses have also been forced to make changes to their daily operations.
As if that’s enough, with the new year fast approaching, concerns have also been raised about the rolling blackouts remaining more of a permanent feature in 2023.
As Eskom continues its battle to keep the lights on amid constant load shedding, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy has rejected the parastatal’s application for a diesel wholesale licence following its bid to import its own diesel.
The department said it had taken note of news reports titled: “Eskom could save billions with diesel import licence – but De Ruyter says progress with DMRE is slow.”
However, the DMRE said Eskom‘s application fell short of the requirements.
Additional reporting by Stephen Tau and Faizel Patel