Africa-Press – South-Africa. As Eskom’s woes continue to lash ordinary South Africans, President Cyril Ramaphosa says his 10-point power crisis plan to forge a road to recovery remains in place.
The president was speaking at the launch of the R7.7 billion environmental upgrade project at the Sappi Saiccor mill in Umkomaas, south of Durban, on Tuesday evening.
The project comes after Ramaphosa’s call for investment into the economy at the Presidential Investment Conference in 2018.
He said: “Earlier in the day, we were at a facility in the auto industry. There is progress and a lot of positive things are happening in our economy.”
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The president said Eskom continued to face considerable challenges as it battled to get more capacity onto the electricity grid.
“So, until we get to that point, the challenges that Eskom are facing will keep hitting us. Fortunately, they are not continuous, they keep recovering some of the units that have failed from time to time, but the investors understand the challenges and understand where we are.”
Eskom’s chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, on Monday said the power utility’s maintenance programme was not yielding the required results, with many generating units suffering breakdowns after returning to service.
Eskom escalated load shedding to Stage 4 over the weekend.
Last week, the power utility lost about 24 000MW capacity, with 42 units out of service. It has since returned 37 units to service.
Ramaphosa said investors were confident in the country’s ability to combat long-standing power issues.
“They (investors) are also appreciative of the measures and steps we are taking to repair Eskom. So, our process of repairing Eskom will be ongoing. The unfortunate part is that it affects livelihoods and companies.”
He said Eskom’s challenges were being addressed within the 10-point electricity crisis strategy announced in July.
“That strategy is being implemented and is unfolding, we will soon see progress.”
The plan’s aim is to expand private generation by waiving regulatory requirements. The government’s procurement from independent power producers will also be expanded.
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