'The system is not on the brink of collapse'- The current state of Eskom

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter has assured South Africans there is no plan to collapse the Eskom power system amid the ongoing outages.

De Ruyter cited energy experts who are “spreading conspiracies” concerning load-shedding, saying these were harmful and not “helping the debate” about the challenges faced by the power utility. 

De Ruyter and other Eskom executives were on Tuesday briefing the media on the rolling blackouts that will last until Saturday.

Here are four important take outs from the briefing: 

Municipalities refusing to implement load-shedding 

De Ruyter said municipalities that refuse to implement load-shedding contribute to persistent power outages. He said Eskom has engaged these municipalities. 

“During stage 2 load-shedding we saw a number of municipalities either not abiding by the obligations to implement load-shedding or implementing it only on a fractional basis of what their commitment should be,” he said. 

Power units 

De Ruyter said Eskom will have more power in its grid as more power stations are expected to be restored. These include two Thuthuka units that will return by the weekend. 

“We anticipate that between 3,000MW and 4,000MW will be added to the grid which will have a positive impact on the outlook for load-shedding going forward,” he said. 

More load-shedding ahead 

The CEO said SA will experience load-shedding until Saturday. Eskom on Wednesday reduced load-shedding to stage 3, which De Ruyter said would be maintained until 5am on Friday, before it was further reduced to stage 2 on Saturday morning. 

Not experiencing a system collapse

De Ruyter said he was satisfied with the way Eskom is running the grid. He assured South Africans the power utility is not on the brink of a system collapse. 

“We have one of the best system operators in the world. We managed the system incredibly well and diligently and this is intended to prevent a total system blackout. Regrettably, from time to time we have to implement load-shedding to avoid those risks becoming a reality.”