HILARY JOFFE: How Eskom keeps SA in the dark, literally and figuratively
Eskom's protocols require it to start communicating with the public when it runs into emergency conditions that could force it to trigger load-shedding
If Eskom's leadership thought it would reassure the nation when it hauled a bunch of journalists out to OR Tambo International Airport at 7.30pm on a Thursday to explain the latest bout of load-shedding, it was wrong. The public's response to the belated briefing, which came after two days of blackouts, ranged from anger to disbelief and confusion. And no wonder. The approach of Eskom executive chair Jabu Mabuza and his executives these days seems to be to baffle us with excruciating detail of the twists and turns of the problematic Medupi conveyor belt, or the leaks in each boiler tube at every generating unit that's fallen off the grid.
Even explaining something as straightforward as how many megawatts were available to meet demand, and how much capacity was on ice due to accidents, equipment failure or maintenance, seemed to defeat them...
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