Ramaphosa, De Ruyter and other ministers visit Tutuka Power Station near Standerton
According to the president, their focus is to put more megawatt completely on the grid, while trying to get four of the six units at Tutuka operating.
President Cyril Ramaphosa, ministers and the CEO of Eskom, André de Ruyter, visited Tutuka Power Station the past weekend.
Ramaphosa said he was well-briefed on the enormous challenges faced by Tutuka to operate at optimal levels.
He referred to government’s own system of procurement of spares in time, as well as challenges such as corruption, fraud, theft and the number of people involved in fraudulent activities.
“Corruption is being dealt with and people are arrested,” he also said.
“Some managers are getting protection after being threatened.
“I am impressed with the quality of managers, who display a great deal of commitment and pleased by the opportunity to see for myself, here on the ground.”
According to De Ruyter, load-shedding can be solved if they all work together and the President was in agreement, mentioning their productive meeting.
According to Ramaphosa, their focus is to put more megawatt completely on the grid, while trying to get four of the six units at Tutuka operating.
“Tutuka will be able to generate 3 500 megawatts of power.”
“Eskom needs to reposition itself to generate enough power for the country.”
The President also used the opportunity to encourage them.
He added that the power system is unreliable and unpredictable, indicating that corruption and state capture have diverted attention from the electricity situation in South Africa.
The President concluded by saying much-needed maintenance at Tutuka has to be done, calling it a productive and informative morning.
