LETTER: Eskom enters new stages of disaster

Eskom has again entered stage 4 load shedding where 4,000MW are removed from the grid. The latest reasons include diesel shortages, Mozambique supply issues with cyclone damage and boiler tube leaks at a number of plants.

How eight power units providing 5,000MW could be affected by the same leaks at the same time is highly suspicious and could be a result of other nefarious activities instead.

Yet again, we have to ask the question why PetroSA and Eskom are not talking to each other and able to set up a stable and consistent supply of diesel when it is needed. This issue had been raised time and time again, yet the same breakdown continues to occur.

While a technical team has been given four weeks to evaluate and provide a report on Eskom, load shedding continues to cripple the country. Having deputy president David Mabuza head up the joint special cabinet committee on Eskom hardly sends the right signal.

With Eskom burning diesel and using pump storage facilities to keep the lights going, the amount of problems, maintenance backlogs, coal quality and shortages at the coal power units has become apparent.

The DA has the solutions that involve privatising the generation part of Eskom which will allow for power units to be properly maintained and stockpiled, allowing well-functioning metros to source power directly from independent power producers (IPPs) and freezing the build on the outstanding units at Kusile.

The ANC literally put SA in the Dark Ages when it allowed state capture to tear Eskom apart. It is time for this country to be given a new hope, with a party that will fight for a stable, green and affordable electricity supply.

Natasha Mazzone
DA MP