President Cyril Ramaphosa Says There’s No Quick Fix for Load Shedding, SA Fed Up With Empty Promises

• President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the state of Eskom and the impact of loadshedding on South Africans
• The head of the nation said the past two weeks of loadshedding were extremely frustrating and challenging
• Ramaphosa said due to Eskom’s unpredictable performance, blackouts would not be eliminated in the short term

PRETORIA - President Cyril Ramaphosa used his weekly newsletter to empathise with the plight of loadshedding on citizens and provide solutions for the country’s worsening electricity crisis. He said the past two weeks of loadshedding were extremely frustrating and challenging and the public anger was justified.

Ramaphosa said loadshedding has had dire consequences on nearly all parts of society. However, he said there is light at the end of the tunnel for Eskom’s woes. The president said there are actions being implemented to end loadshedding, but they may not be felt immediately.

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The leader of the nation said due to the power utility’s unpredictable performance, loadshedding would not be eliminated in the short term. According to the newsletter, Eskom is implementing measures to improve its performance.

Ramaphosa said by working with Transnet, coal will be transported and monitored to ensure consistency of the supply delivered to stations. He said Eskom is also addressing the poor quality of coal.

The president said discussions are underway to ease local content requirements for spare parts for maintenance, to ensure that critical maintenance is undertaken. He said Eskom has worked on procuring emergency power, and in the last week launched power purchase programmes for 1 000 megawatts of emergency capacity.

Taking to Twitter, the presidency shared:

“As we work with greater urgency to fix the immediate problem of an unreliable power system, we are also busy laying the groundwork for a sustainable, lasting solution to the country’s electricity woes.”

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Ramaphosa added that the interventions being implemented will reduce the severity and frequency of loadshedding.

South Africans react to the newsletter:

@MarumoMashigo said:

“My honourable president please you still remember 2015, the same story, stop talking and do the job citizens are no longer happy about big talk without actions.”

@benpooler commented:

“Why do you always wait for a crisis before reacting? It was entirely predictable that we would run out of electricity.”

@CayForWater posted:

“This should have been done 10 years ago! Meanwhile, your extended family are very busy procuring.”

@LukheleSporo added:

“You LIED to the nation before, why should we believe any word from your mouth, Mr President?”

Eskom top guns at risk of losing their jobs as government plans to shake up board

In a related matter, Briefly News also reported top leadership at South African power utility, Eskom, may be in jeopardy of losing their jobs. Reports indicate that changes to the board and administration of the ailing power utility are imminent.

Read also

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan says loadshedding will ease in coming days, Mzansi unimpressed

Energy expert Tshepo Kgadima said Eskom's leadership needs a much-needed facelift as Kgadima maintains that the power utility's board has failed to address the energy crisis.

According to Jacaranda FM, President Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet will meet this week to discuss leadership changes at the struggling parastatal.

Source: Briefly News