De Ruyter admonishes media: It’s not blackouts, it’s load shedding
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter says the power utility is on track to suspend load shedding on Saturday morning.
This comes days after the power cuts were implemented due to a shortage in generating capacity.
The power cuts continue to leave a trail of destruction for residents and businesses, leaving South Africans in the dark for hours on end and slowing economic recovery.
De Ruyter addressed media on Wednesday for the second time this week amid heightened frustrations.
He assured the nation the embattled power utility is on track to keep the lights on by the end of the week.
"Overall, we remain on track for lifting load shedding by 5am on Saturday. That forecast remains on track," he said.
De Ruyter added while there is over 7000MW off the grid due to planned maintenance, there has been a good recovery in unplanned outages.
He reiterated the country is not on the brink of a total blackout, warning the use of wrong terminology exacerbates fear.
"It is not a blackout. That's what we are trying to avoid by implementing load shedding.
"That is the catastrophic outcome we are trying to avoid by managing the demand through load shedding. This is, of course, very unfortunate but it is an important matter we need to take into account," he said.
De Ruyter added the power utility remains committed to adding more capacity onto the grid.
Listen to de Ruyter below:
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