MPs want Eskom meeting to discuss load shedding during matric exams
Parliament’s basic education committee says it's concerned about the impact of the ongoing power cuts on matrics.
Grade 12s, who are busy with their NSC assessments, are
having to study and write their papers during load shedding.
Chairperson Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba has requested an urgent meeting with Eskom's CEO to discuss the effects of the electricity crisis on candidates writing exams.
She says load shedding's an additional hurdle for pupils who've had to deal with rotational school attendance, among other things, due to the pandemic.
READ: LOADSHEDDING: No internet during lights out? Here's why this happens...
"The load shedding is disturbing, learners are supposed to be writing a three-hour paper and their papers are disturbed because the electricity shuts off. So we are concerned and we have requested the Department of Basic Education to meet the Department of Public Enterprise and energy to discuss the matter because things can't continue like this.
Meanwhile, to keep its power stations up and running, Eskom needs up to R12 billion rand a year for maintenance.
CEO André de Ruyter's compared the utility to an old car that needs to be replaced saying the power producer's 41-year-old generation feed needs additional capacity.
“We now need to introduce additional capacity in order to make provision for the class that is rapidly reaching the end of life and that are going to be repurposed and repowered with a smaller output in order to ensure the transition into a lower carbon economy is in fact a just one."
