Govt to announce further measures to ease load shedding
Cabinet says further interventions will be announced in an effort resolve the country's energy crisis.
Cabinet, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, held a meeting on Wednesday with the load shedding crisis high up on the agenda.
The embattled power utility has been implementing varying stages of load shedding for weeks due to a shortage of generation capacity and continuous breakdowns at power stations.
READ: eThekwini working to restore power across city
In July, Ramaphosa announced a range of measures to solve the country’s energy crisis but the crisis has since escalated with continuous blackouts.
The struggling utility has this week announced its plan to urgently procure 1000MW additional generation capacity from independent power producers.
Ramaphosa had to cut his international trip short on Monday after attending Queen Elizabeth II's funeral in London to deal with the crisis.
Ramaphosa was scheduled to attend the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York this week.
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Cabinet spokesperson Phumla Williams says Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan presented a briefing on the capacity of Eskom and a progress report from the Technical Committee of the National Energy Crisis Committee.
"Cabinet is still deliberating on these reports and following further interventions, announcements will be made. Meanwhile, Cabinet remains committed to resolving the issue of energy security in the country and welcomes the concerted efforts being made by the government and stakeholders to find a permanent solution to end load shedding.
“Cabinet expressed regret that intermittent load-shedding is happening at the time when the government is vigorously engaged with the interventions announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2022 to overcome the surmountable energy crisis facing the country,” Williams adds.