‘Following the tripping of a generating unit each at Kusile and Kriel power stations, Stage 6 load shedding was implemented effective 04:16. Eskom appeals to the public to help conserve electricity,” said Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha in a statement announcing an escalation in rolling blackouts.
It signalled a remarkable escalation in the deterioration of Eskom’s ability to supply South African homes and businesses with electricity after a week that had not been much better.
As Daily Maverick has reported, 2022 has been the worst year for scheduled power cuts by the monopoly energy utility. There have been power cuts on more than 100 days this year — and 2022 was 260 days old on 18 September.
Stage 6 allows for up to 6,000MW of the national load to be shed. Eskom explains that this means consumers can expect to be shed up to 12 times in a four-day period: six times for two hours and six times for four hours.
In the aftermath of the utility imposing Stage 6 in July, Daily Maverick reported that President Cyril Ramaphosa had announced a set of actions to respond to South Africa’s years-long energy crisis.
At the time, Ramaphosa acknowledged that Stage 6 rolling blackouts had “made clear” that “the actions we have taken, and continue to take, are not enough”. He announced five actions as well as “additional measures to achieve long-term energy security and end load shedding for good”.
Daily Maverick has contacted the Presidency for comment on the progress of aspects of the “Energy Action Plan”, but no response had been received at the time of writing.
Turn it off!
Professor Patrick Bond, a political economist and professor of sociology at the University of Johannesburg, had some suggestions.
“Energy rationing should urgently be put on the table, now — and not just for time-of-day management, but to consider which users are guzzling irrationally, especially after two of the world’s most polluting, corrupt, over-budget, bust-deadline coal-fired power plants are crashing.”
Bond continued: “What would a sensible Eskom manager … be considering, to ration energy now? A couple of easy ones: South32 [spun out of BHP Billiton in 2015] smelters; [and] Sasol’s Secunda operation. [It] is a terrible drain on national energy resources, [and is] doing so much damage to the climate and local folk.”
Both companies are members of the Energy Intensive Users Group (EIUG) and Bond suggested that their operations be curtailed to get the power crisis under control.
Members of the EIUG account for roughly 40% of the electricity consumed in South Africa. South32’s Hillside smelter in KwaZulu-Natal is Eskom’s largest energy-intensive customer at 1,205MW, which is equivalent to one stage of rolling blackouts.
Public ‘still in the dark’
Power cuts have been escalated at a time when Eskom is seeking a 32% increase in electricity tariffs from April next year.
The official opposition in Parliament was quick to have its say on this most recent escalation of the electricity supply crisis. In a statement, Democratic Alliance (DA) members of Parliament Kevin Mileham and Ghaleb Cachalia said: “The DA calls for the immediate return of President Cyril Ramaphosa to South Africa to address the worsening electricity crisis that is one load-shedding stage away from a total grid collapse.”
The DA said that despite Ramaphosa having announced an urgent energy action plan two months ago, the South African public was “still in the dark” with regard to progress on a number of its interventions:
“Almost two months after announcement of the plan, the country is still in the dark on:
- Recruitment or rehiring of experienced former Eskom staff (engineers, power station managers);
- Procurement of electricity from neighbouring countries (just an admission that negotiations are ongoing);
- The plan to eliminate sabotage, theft and fraud at Eskom; and
- National Treasury’s plan to expand tax incentives for residential and commercial installations, which is still pending.”
Read more in Daily Maverick: “Here it is: Ramaphosa’s ‘energy action plan’ to end SA’s rolling blackouts”
“Eskom’s failure to provide reliable supply of electricity makes the 32% tariff increase application to Nersa [National Energy Regulator of South Africa] simply out of touch with reality,” the DA said, reiterating its call that Eskom should not be rewarded for keeping South Africans in the dark.
“Consumers must not be forced to bear the financial burden of the ANC government’s failure to address an electricity crisis that has been 15 years in the making. In view of the state’s patent failure to deliver on Eskom’s mandate it is time for the private sector to be engaged with urgency,” the DA said.
Western Cape backup plans
The DA-led Western Cape government outlined in a media statement what it would be doing to ameliorate the effects of the power cuts and prepare for higher levels of rolling blackouts over the next week.
Anton Bredell, Western Cape MEC for local government, environmental affairs and development planning, said: “We are monitoring diesel levels for backup systems, security at critical infrastructure, and the situation at hospitals and old-age homes.
“Because Eskom cannot at this stage say for how long high levels of load shedding will be implemented, we must ensure essential systems that provide for water and sewage can function on backup power for the near future.”
On Saturday, 17 September, the City of Cape Town’s Water and Sanitation Directorate warned residents about some of the potential impacts of the higher level of load shedding: “Some higher-lying areas may experience low pressure or supply disruptions in the event of a power outage affecting the booster water pump stations which are required in some areas to convey water to the reservoirs supplying the higher-lying areas across the City.
“Should residents in these areas — particularly in the northern and southern parts of the city — experience low pressure, this could likely be due to the impact of load shedding.” DM