SOUTH Africa’s Minister of Electricity, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, issued a public apology on Monday for the recent surge in power outages that have plagued the country during the winter season. Ramokgopa expressed sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused by the intensive stages of load shedding, referring to the planned power cuts. He acknowledged the disruption the outages have caused for homes and businesses.
Ramokgopa attributed the prolonged power cuts to a drop in generating capacity caused by adverse weather conditions in Gauteng province, including snowfall last week. He explained that the increased electricity demand, coupled with malfunctioning solar panels on homes and businesses, resulted in higher usage and strained the national grid, leading to outages.
South Africa is currently facing one of its most severe electricity crises in decades, with daily blackouts being implemented by the state-owned power utility Eskom, responsible for generating over 90 percent of the country’s electricity. The aging coal-fired power plants operated by Eskom require maintenance, contributing to the electricity shortage.
President Cyril Ramaphosa emphasised the urgency of the situation and tasked the new Electricity Minister with reducing the severity and frequency of power cuts. The minister’s responsibilities include coordinating the crisis response, collaborating with Eskom’s leadership to enhance the performance of existing power stations, and expediting the procurement of new generation capacity.
