By Lebogang Seale, Louise Flanagan and Henri du Plessis
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has, for the first time, apologised for the power blackouts plaguing the country.
Ironically, she was addressing an awards ceremony held by candlelight after Parktown High School for Girls in Parkview, Johannesburg, was plunged into darkness Thursday night.
Her apology came on South Africa's most powerless day after Eskom had to shed as much as 12,5 percent of the country's load.
'Maybe we were pessimists who did not believe in our economic growth' The utility later blamed wet coal, due to continuous rainy weather in Mpumalanga, for this.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said she was sorry for the intermittent blackouts caused by Eskom's load-shedding.
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She admitted that the government had underestimated the country's economic growth, which had seen electricity demand far outstripping supply in recent years.
(It was ironic that) "we have a growing economy that everyone envies, but have to suffer this pain. We have a positive on one hand and a negative on the other.
"Maybe we were pessimists who did not believe in our economic growth," she said.
Mlambo-Ngcuka said the government would be announcing contingency measures today to deal with the rolling blackouts.
Meanwhile, Eskom has begged people to "turn it off", as the country hit the brink of disaster.
That was the message from the power utility yesterday after the power grid hit a massive crisis and 4 000MW had to be shed quickly. The load-shedding plan reached Eskom's Brown Stage 3 the highest stage.
Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga blamed the "prolonged adverse weather conditions" and said load-shedding would continue for the next two to four weeks.
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This article was originally published on page 1 of Cape Argus on January 25, 2008
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