By: Natasha Archary
South Africa has experienced 1 637 hours of loadshedding to date and there’s no end in sight with Stage 3 set to continue until Thursday, 06 October.
According to loadshedding app, Eskom Se Push, the country is currently experiencing the longest loadshedding streak ever at over 450 hours of rolling blackouts so far in 2022.
Usually Eskom plunges the country into darkness during the colder winter months when usage is said to be in higher demand.
However, the failing power utility says that continued breakdowns means that there is no other option but for Stage 3 loadshedding to continue until 05h00 on Thursday morning.
In a statement Eskom said the shutdown of Camden Power Station in Mpumalanga has further impacted the state-owned power utility’s ability to keep the power on.
“The remaining units are anticipated to return to service over the next 8-days, while one will remain on planned maintenance. A generating unit each at Kusile and Majuba power stations were returned to service.
A generating unit each at Duvha, Kendal, Komati, Kusile, Matimba, Lethabo and Tutuka power stations were returned to service.”
Eskom currently has 6 893MW on planned maintenance, while another 16 168MW of capacity is unavailable due to breakdowns.
So far in 2022 we have had 1637 hours of national loadshedding pic.twitter.com/0L97Lyw59y
— EskomSePush (ESP) (@EskomSePush) September 19, 2022
😳 Currently, we are experiencing the longest loadshedding streak in history: +450 hours
— EskomSePush (ESP) (@EskomSePush) September 27, 2022
📊 by @KrylikRSA pic.twitter.com/Bt4ED9EQQe
Prolonged loadshedding is costing the country approximately R4 billion a day according to a report by a Chief economist Isaah Mhlanga.
President Ramaphosa has called for patience from South Africans during persistent loadshedding, saying there is no short term solution to the problem.
Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan has just appointed a new board at Eskom with hopes of bringing stability to the entity.
Also read: Temperatures expected to soar as heatwave grips parts of SA



