Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa Said Loadshedding Will Last Until 28 February
- Eskom said loadshedding is expected to continue until the end of the week on 28 February 2025
- The state-owned entity implemented Stages 3 and 6 loadshedding in succession after multiple units broke down in three power stations
- The Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa denied that the breakdowns were because of sabotage
With nine years of experience, Tebogo Mokwena, a Briefly News current affairs journalist, provided insights into infrastructure challenges and state-owned enterprises in South Africa at Daily Sun and Vutivi Business News.
Source: Getty Images
JOHANNESBURG – Eskom is expected to continue rolling loadshedding out until 28 February 2025 after it plunged the country into Stage 3 and Stage 6 loadshedding within hours of each other on 22 February.
What did Eskom say?
Addressing the media during a briefing, Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said Eskom asked the Treasury for additional financial support and received it. Despite this, Eskom suffered a setback in February and said the current bout of load-shedding is more intense than when it was implemented on 1 January 2025.
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He added that Eskom assures South Africa that the end of load-shedding is near. He said Kusile Unit 6 will be synchronized, Medupi’s Unit 4 will be synchronized, and this will add over 1000MW of capacity. he said Eskom will resolve the problem.
“I'm confident that by the end of the week, we will be out of the woods,” he said.
Source: Getty Images
What you need to know about loadshedding in 2025
- Despite the promises Ramokgopa made, Eskom implemented loadshedding on 1 February 2025
- The rolling blackouts came a few days after Eskom celebrated 300 days without loadshedding
- Political parties including the MK Party and the Democratic Alliance slammed the implementation of load-shedding and called it a devastating blow to the economy
- Eskom explained, after implementing Stage 6 loadshedding on 23 February, that multiple units at Medupi and Camden Power Stations failed, triggering loadshedding
1998 Report forewarned of loadshedding
The country's disruptive power cycle was predicted almost a decade before the country was plunged into cyclic darkness for the first time.
In December 1998, government officials, Eskom's top brass and analysts predicted that the power utility would run out of electrical power reserves by 2007. They warned that action was needed to prevent a disruption.
Thus, the report recommended unbundling the utility and making it into separate power generation and transmission enterprises to improve supply and reliability.
Despite the ominous warnings, the national government stood idly by, taking no action. Then, during President Tabo Mbeki's administration, it was reported that the government considered privatising Eskom.
It later became the reason cited for why the government failed to act.
As a result, Eskom couldn't add additional generating capacity and laboured to keep up with the increased demand for electricity from 2002.
The government eventually permitted Eskom to expand energy production significantly (by 70%) in 2004, leading to the construction of 15 power stations between 1961 and 1996, adding capacity to the grid.
However, since then, many power stations are past their operational lifespan and are close to being decommissioned.
South Africans blast Ramokgooa
Angry South Africans spewed vitriol against Ramokgopa. Sibusiso Nkabinde said:
“You are counterproductive and hyped up for nothing. You should be officially dubbed the minister of load-shedding.”
David Mnisi said:
“This nonsense must stop, Minister. We can't deal with it.”
Moss said:
“We're back to loadshedding. I feel like we're going back to apartheid.”
Chelle said:
“What a liar. A report by the SIU came out this week and it revealed abuses in Eskom’s security contracts, where emergency provisions were exploited to award contracts to unqualified companies.”
Mkhumbi ka Khuma said:
“I never thought it would take him this quick to learn the art of lies but then again why am I surprised?”
Banele Mancoba said:
“ANC leadership is useless and incompetent. They can't do anything. Sadly we don't want to hear apologies. We need electricity.”
SA reacts to loadshedding
In a related article, Briefly News reported that South Africans were furious when Eskom implemented loadshedding on 1 February. Eskom announced that it experienced multiple breakdowns which forced them to implement blackouts.
Eskom also said that it burned through its diesel supply, and South Africans were discontent. Many lashed out at the state-owned enterprise on social media.
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Source: Briefly News
