Anger, frustration over load shedding understandable: Ramaphosa
President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has received an update on the most recent developments at Eskom’s power stations, which resulted in the escalation of load shedding to stage 6 on Monday.
"The President has been in constant communication with the Minister of Public Enterprises and the leadership of the electricity utility on the state of the national grid and the work being done to address the current crisis," said Ramaphosa in a statement.
President Ramaphosa said: “The ongoing load shedding is devastating for the country. It is causing our economy great harm and disrupting the lives of citizens.
“The extreme weather in several parts of the country over the last week has compounded the problems of an electricity grid that was already under great strain."
ALSO READ: 700 shacks damaged in Mamelodi floods
According to Ramaphosa, “Our immediate priority is to get as much generating capacity back online within the shortest possible time. Eskom’s emergency response command centre and technical teams are working around the clock to fix multiple breakdowns.
“The anger and frustration that this load shedding has caused are understandable. It is essential at this time that all stakeholders work together to restore adequate supply of electricity in the shortest time. We call on all South Africans, especially energy-intensive users, to reduce consumption at this time.”
Ramaphosa says government has taken far-reaching and necessary decisions to ensure the sustainable security of energy supply.
"As we confront the immediate challenges, we are working to put these long term solutions in place.”
He concludes: “The energy challenges in this country will not be resolved overnight. We have set out on a bold path of restructuring and rebuilding. Despite the setbacks of the past week, we are making progress and will steadily begin to see the fruits of these efforts.”
The President has directed the Ministry of Public Enterprises as well as Eskom to continue to give regular updates and communication on the progress being made to restore the units back to full capacity.