Load shedding will end by December, says Mbalula

ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula has once again vowed that load shedding will be a thing of the past by December.

Mbalula made the remarks while addressing the media on the national executive committee meeting on Sunday.

The embattled power utility announced the downgrading of planned power cuts to stage 2 and 4 on Sunday.

This after the utility had implemented stage 6 rolling blackouts throughout the past week.

Mbalula said while intermittent rolling blackouts may persist, the overall trajectory points towards resolving the issue entirely.

"The NEC was pleased to note that even though the challenges of load shedding persist, nonetheless there is a marked improvement on the Energy Availability Factor from the various Eskom plants.

"The NEC therefore applauded the continued work by all stakeholders involved, in this regard, led by the Minster of Electricity Kgosientso Ramokgopa and involving the critical support by the private sector and the tireless efforts by workers in this energy sector towards ensuring grid stability."

He added that lower stages of load shedding should be the norm again soon. 

"The NEC therefore reassures South Africans of its commitment towards ending load shedding which has had a serious negative impact on both the social wellbeing of our people as well as economic development."

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