On Thursday night, South Africans tuned in to their TVs and radios as President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation on various issues, including the electricity crisis. Many were eagerly awaiting his remarks on the widely discussed return of load shedding in households.
“The measures we have implemented through the Energy Action Plan have reduced the severity and frequency of load shedding, with more than 300 days without load shedding since March 2024. While the return of load shedding for two days last week was a reminder that our energy supply is still constrained, we remain on a positive trajectory. We now need to put the risk of load shedding behind us once and for all by completing the reform of our energy system to ensure long-term energy security,” says Ramaphosa.
Energy expert Professor Simpson Mamphweli concurs with the President. “The President was not misleading the country at all. When we look at the numbers in terms of the improvements that were made by Eskom. Eskom indicated that they have got about 2500 megawatts that have been delayed which might come back to life by the end of March. And if those megawatts are back to life, load shedding highly possible will be a thing of the past. So the President is spot on.”
‘Nothing new’
Another expert says the President’s remarks during the State of the Nation Address were nothing new, just a repetition of what has been said over the years. They emphasise that for South Africa to overcome its electricity challenges, a more realistic and practical approach is needed.
Energy expert Lungile Mashele says, “This is what we have heard before there is really nothing new on what was said and now we really need to start interrogating what is meant by the green economy, because we speak about products that we manufacture whether it is panels, and these products are manufactured outside our borders. Eight out of ten PV panels are manufactured in China and we need to be realistic in terms of what we can and cannot do.”
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Meanwhile, people on the ground remain unconvinced by the President’s remarks on load shedding.
“I doubt he is telling us the truth about load shedding. I doubt. We experienced it five days ago where I stayed. Loadshedding has just resumed. It is not going to stop. According to me, it won’t stop. This is the beginning of load shedding,” says a citizen.
another one adds, “We heard the president talking about load shedding in his speech yesterday but we have seen before that what he says during SONA does not materialize. His speech was fine but I doubt load shedding will end.”
On January 21 this year, Eskom reached a milestone of 300 days without load shedding. By the end of the month, South Africa had gone a full ten months without citizens experiencing power cuts.
