How Eskom returned SA to the Dark Ages
Last week, a violent strike pushed SA’s ageing, creaking power infrastructure over the edge, plunging the country into stage 6 load-shedding, or blackouts of up to 12 hours a day. It’s costing the economy billions, and individuals their livelihoods. In the face of prolonged government inaction, voters are out of patience ...
06 July 2022 - 08:26
In March 2020, just a few weeks after André de Ruyter took the reins at Eskom, he issued a prescient warning. “The time for an intervention is now,” he said. “If we do nothing, stage 8 [load-shedding] will be a regular event by June 2021.”
De Ruyter’s plea was unequivocal: add another 4,000MW-6,000MW to the grid urgently to allow Eskom to do vital (and much-delayed) maintenance on its ageing power plants, like those at Kendal, Duvha and Tutuka...
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