Power system battling with demand: Gordhan
Public Enterprise Minister, Pravin Gordhan and Eskom Board Chairperson Jabu Mabuza say new power plants and ageing infrastructure are currently unable to maintain the country's electricity demands.
Gordhan says 48 000 Megawatts of energy are installed in South Africa but that we only have 28 000 Megawatts available on an average day.
He says both transmission lines from Mozambique have also collapsed as a result of Cyclone Idai.
"A special crew from the SANDF, combined with Eskom technicians have been flying over the parts of Mozambique where the pylons are - which carry the transmission lines between the hydropower dam and the plants in South Africa. We will give you a report on the status of those lines."
Mabuza says the operational side of Eskom is in crisis.
"I think we would need a crisis reaction methodology. Here we need time and speed. We need time to work with the equipment and speed to address the problems, speed to get the equipment, speed to get the people you need to get and money to pay for the things you need to get."
