Power situation ‘will gradually change’ - Mabuza
Updated | By Nokukhanya N Mntambo
Deputy President David Mabuza has reiterated government’s plans to give a facelift to ailing power utility Eskom.

Mabuza appeared in the National Council of Provinces on Thursday to an answer questions from Members of Parliament.
Quizzed on the country’s ailing energy provision, Mabuza told MPs that he’s confident that Eskom will turn things around.
“We’ve said this again and again that we’ve got an old fleet and this old fleet was not adequately maintained. We’ve accepted that and in the recent past the fleet wasn’t adequately maintained and that is why it’s giving us the current problems. We’ve accepted that,” Mabuza said.
“The only way to get out of this maintenance problem is to introduce new units that will bring fresh energy into the system.”
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Stage 4 load shedding to persist on Thursday
The power utility rolled out stage 2 blackouts at the start of the week but by Wednesday had upgraded to stage 4. Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha says the power grid remains heavily constrained.
Eskom has rolled out power cuts since the start of the week due to continued breakdowns and loss of generating units.
By Thursday, the power utility had ramped up the rolling blackouts to stage 4.
“I am confident that as days go by, we are going to be out of this problem.
“Currently we are relying much on coal, the generation of our energy from coal, and I can tell you that this situation is going to gradually change.”
Mabuza added that the unbundling of Eskom into three separate entities is at an advanced stage.
The legal separation of the entities is likely to happen by the end of 2021, in spite of opposition by labour unions over an apparent lack of consultation.

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