Ramaphosa replied to questions in the National Assembly.
“The recent load shedding – which has disrupted daily life for millions of South Africans and caused great damage to our economy – is a stark reminder of the severe and intractable challenges in our electricity system,” Ramaphosa said.
“Load shedding is always the last resort where demand for electricity is greater than what can be produced. It is necessary to prevent the collapse of the power grid and a complete blackout.”
“At its core, load-shedding is the inevitable consequence of the age of many of Eskom’s power plants and its inability over many years – due to debt, lack of capacity and state capture – to service its power plants.”
“Eskom has to undertake the fundamental maintenance that is necessary to improve the reliability of our electricity supply.”
“As it continues with maintenance, load-shedding will remain a possibility for the immediate future.”
“But we are not simply waiting for the inevitable. We are working hard to fix this problem.”
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Photo: Flickr / GCIS
