Load shedding not part of our language, says Eskom
Eskom says there is no reason for concern amid a severe shortage of coal at several of its power stations.
There are concerns that the shortage could lead to another round of load shedding, but the power utility has given an assurance that it "is managing the situation".
Seven power stations are currently experiencing coals shortages and have had to replenish supplies from other power stations.
"In total Eskom has 15 coal power stations, eight of them are having enough supply and therefore there are no issues there," says Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe. "The seven that are having problems are the ones that we are focusing on at the moment. So what we are doing is diverting coal from the ones that have more than enough stockpiles to these ones that are struggling so that we can keep the system running without having to implement load shedding.
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Phasiwe says the shortage of coal is due to the problems experience by the Gupta-owned Tegeta mine, which is currently under business rescue.
"Part of the problem comes from the mines that are owned by Tegeta, which are owned by the Guptas. So those mines owned by Tegeta have declared hardship clauses and as a result they are unable to provide us with coal, which is why we are having this shortfall.
"We are managing the situation currently and load shedding is not part of our language," he adds.