Eskom has yet again announced stage 2 load shedding which will end on Wednesday and this is dependent on the levels of breakdowns.
Eskom claims that load shedding is implemented only as a last resort to protect the national grid.
“The loss of four additional generation units at Matla, Tutuka, Duvha and Arnot power stations over the past 24 hours, exacerbated by the delay in units returning to service at Camden, Matla, Grootvlei and Tutuka power stations, has unfortunately necessitated the implementation of load shedding,” said Eskom.
The utility said the power system continues to be fragile and Eskom is forced to implement load shedding to manage and replenish emergency generation reserves, on which it has been relying to supply electricity this week.
“Since Friday afternoon, a generation unit each at Camden, Komati and Arnot power stations returned to service.
We currently have 5 474MW on planned maintenance, while another 17 018MW of capacity is unavailable due to unplanned breakdowns,” said Eskom.
It said that the power system remains unpredictable and that Eskom would like to inform the public that any further deterioration in generation capacity may require higher stages of load shedding.
“We therefore request the public to continue using electricity sparingly, as we strive to return units to service. We will communicate should there be any significant changes to the supply.” said Eskom.
The DA Gauteng spokesperson for finance and e-Government Patrick Atkinson said that it was deeply worrying that the Gauteng provincial Government is unable to track the exact impact that load shedding has had on the province.
“This revelation comes just as the country is hit by another round of load shedding that will again not only impact our residents negatively but also businesses which rely on electricity to continue production or trade,” said Atkinson.
He said that according to questions tabled in the Gauteng provincial legislature (GPL) regarding the impact load shedding has had specifically on Gauteng, MEC Parks Tau said disruptions to operations caused by load shedding had meant that businesses have had to work under unpredictable and unstable conditions.
“In turn, workers lose working hours which has a direct impact on business productivity. Not only are the hours lost and unproductive but employees still need to be paid for those hours not worked. This is coupled with higher operating costs due to mitigating measures that need to be put into place such as the installation and operation of generators. In many instances, these additional unforeseen costs can be crippling to a business and can be the final straw causing the business to close,” Atkinson said.
He said that Tau explained that an estimated 122 500 jobs have been lost due to Eskom's continued load shedding. This revelation about the shockingly high level of job losses among Gauteng residents comes off the back of a Statistics SA (Stats SA) announcement that 216 2000 residents are unemployed in Gauteng.
Atkinson said plenty of industries in the province and particularly small businesses rely on Eskom to ensure there is a constant supply of electricity.