Ramokgopa says government is addressing load reduction

Minister of Electricity and Energy Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the government is taking steps to eliminate load reduction nationwide.

Ramokgopa has been meeting with the mayors of Limpopo municipalities in Polokwane. He encouraged municipalities to explore electricity generation, as a means to reduce load shedding and create revenue streams.

Although the country has experienced a significant number of days without load shedding, some rural villages in Limpopo continue to face daily electricity disruptions of up to four hours a day.

Ramokgopa says resources are being allocated to combat load reduction, “We are now fighting load reduction. It’s on our radar and we are summoning all the resources necessary to improve the capacity of the distribution and reticulation infrastructure, to ensure that we address leakage, what we call illegal connections, but we formalise those who are consuming and who want to pay. We put them on the prepaid, smart-electricity platform that will be run and directed by Eskom and municipalities.”

Meanwhile, Limpopo SALGA chairperson John Mpe says the mayors have welcomed the Minister’s interventions, which include support to reducing the debt of municipalities to the power utility, Eskom.

“Musina used to be number one in terms of owing Eskom but now they are amongst the municipalities that have been praised by Eskom for following the arrangements. Bela-Bela as well, is doing well in terms of the arrangements. Of course we had problems at Modimolle-Mookgophong as well as Thabazimbi. We all know the governance issues, the instability of the coalition governments or municipal councils there.”

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