By Kaya 959 Reporter
President Cyril Ramaphosa says the government is keeping tabs on the ongoing electricity crisis in the country.
He says loadshedding is having a major impact not only on individuals but also on the economy.
Speaking at a media briefing on Monday, Ramaphosa says the issue of electricity is on their radar.
“We are looking at precisely what is happening and how the executives and board [are] handling it. It is a major problem. It is the biggest risk and we are in the process of looking very closely at how best to handle it,” he says.
ALSO READ: 7 Ways to navigate the roads at night during loadshedding
Loadshedding is the biggest threat to our economy – President @CyrilRamaphosa addressing members of the media this afternoon following #ANCSiyabonga
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) November 8, 2021
Eskom implements stage 4 loadshedding
On Monday, Eskom announced the implementation of stage 4 loadshedding.
The power utility blamed the move on generation capacity shortages. It says the escalation in loadshedding is necessary to ration the remaining emergency generation reserves.
Eskom utilised the reserves “extensively” on Monday morning. Officials hoped that implementing stage 2 loadshedding would cause a reduction in demand, but that did not happen.
“It was anticipated that an additional seven units would have returned to service by Monday, and this has not materialised,” the power giant said in a statement.
Eskom adds that a generating unit at Arnot power station tripped on Monday, contributing to the shortages.
According to the statement, total breakdowns currently amount to 14 874MW while planned maintenance is 5 579MW of capacity.
Stage 4 will continue throughout the week until 5am on Friday. Thereafter, officials will implement stage 2 until 5am on Saturday.
Ramaphosa says what is going on at Eskom is the combination of a range of problems and challenges which the government is continuing to look at.
“We are going to continue to look at the proficiencies and capabilities of everyone who is involved and we will seek to find solutions for this,” he says.
