SA’s latest round of power blackouts, during which 6,000MW of capacity was removed from the grid to prevent a total collapse of the system, could be suspended within the next two weeks after the positive conclusion of wage talks between Eskom and unions.
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan on Monday told an ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting that load-shedding will be gradually reduced from stage 6 to pre-strike levels. At the onset of the strike load-shedding was intermittent, ranging from stage 1 to 2.
Disgruntled employees downed tools about a week ago and embarked on a wildcat strike in support of their demand for above-inflation increases. This led to Eskom implementing the worst power cuts in four years, going up to stage 6. On Tuesday, unions accepted Eskom’s offer of a 7% wage increase across the board, effectively bringing an end to the strike.
The overall hit of the agreement on the wage bill will be more than R1bn, which the heavily indebted power utility can ill afford. The National Treasury is said to be seeking a legal firm to advise it on how to reorganise the R396bn debt burden.
Business Day understands that the maintenance backlogs from the strike could take up to two weeks to clear with Eskom adding that it could take some time for the system to recover.
“Whilst recognising the need to protect the stability of the national electricity grid through load-shedding measures, the NEC called for this to be confined to lower stages and to be phased out in the medium to long term,” the party’s spokesperson, Pule Mabe, said in a statement.
“The NEC resolved that the energy crisis must be resolved as soon as possible. The president also urged for a speedy resolution to the crisis because of the massive cost to the economy,” a well-placed source who attended the meeting told Business Day.
President Cyril Ramaphosa told the same meeting that Eskom should stop targeting townships with prolonged hours of load-shedding, according to the source.
The severe power cuts implemented by Eskom have received widespread backlash from businesses and households who over the past week have been left without power for as long as six hours a day.
The rolling blackouts have sparked fears that the economy, which is still reeling from the effects of weakening consumer confidence and April’s devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal, is entering a technical recession.
There are also fears that the blackouts and delivery protests that ensued could cost the governing party support at the 2024 elections.
The ending of the strike to effect the gradual reduction of load-shedding will only provide a short-term solution as Eskom’s power stations remain poorly maintained and prone to breakdowns.
Long-term solutions to the country’s energy crisis presented and adopted by the NEC include bringing in seasoned former Eskom technicians with the appropriate skills to provide assistance, facilitating private investment in new generation capacity and speeding up the repurposing of power stations with alternative energy sources.
Business Day understands that Ramaphosa, along with Gordhan and Eskom CEO André de Ruyter will be meeting “soon” to chart a way forward as part of the government’s long-term interventions in the electricity crisis.
“The government [should] act decisively in investigating and acting on reports of sabotage of the country’s generation and distribution infrastructure. Furthermore, the NEC called for a campaign against illegal connections to eliminate load reduction, which is placing an added burden on communities, and called on all South Africans to join energy-saving measures to alleviate stress on the national grid,” Mabe said.
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