Restructuring of Eskom ‘will transform energy sector’ - Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa says South Africa will continue to experience load shedding for a while longer amid the capacity crisis at Eskom.
Ramaphosa answered questions in the National Assembly on Thursday.
The country has experienced continuous rolling blackouts due to the power utility’s failure to generate enough capacity.
Ramaphosa told MPs he Is aware that load shedding disrupts the lives of millions of South Africans while also causing great damage to the economy.
He however says it remains necessary to protect the system.
“At its core, load shedding is the inevitable consequence of the age of many of Eskom’s power plants and its inability over many years –due to debt, lack of capacity and state capture – to service its power plants.
“Eskom has to undertake the fundamental maintenance that is necessary to improve the reliability of our electricity supply. As it continues with maintenance, load-shedding will remain a possibility for the immediate future.”
Ramaphosa says the current restructuring at the embattled power utility will help to reduce load shedding.
The legal separation of the transmission entity is planned for 31 December 2021 while the legal separation of generation and distribution is scheduled for December 2022.
“The restructuring of Eskom will transform the sector and will enable greater competition and investment in new generation capacity. This reform will have a significant positive impact on economic growth and will improve the reliability and efficiency of our electricity supply. Over the last year, we have put in place several additional measures to address energy constraints.
“This will allow for more private sector investment in electricity generation capacity without any public funding and will reduce the risk of load shedding.”
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