South Africans should brace for more load-shedding (power rationing) over the next two years, power utility Eskom’s chief executive Andre de Ruyter warned on Monday.
De Ruyter, a newly-appointed CEO given the mandate to change Eskom’s operations for the better, said it was difficult for him to indicate when sufficient power generating capacity would be available throughout the country.
“It’s difficult for me to commit to a timeline. We certainly are working on a very well developed programme,” de Ruyter said.
He added: “But we do expect that there’ll be a period of 18 to 24 months when there’ll be some form of interruption in supply in order for us to rebuild capacity and keep South Africa consistently supplied with electricity.”
South Africans saw the worst power supply to date in the country during the past year, with unprecedented power blackouts that severely affected business operations nationwide.
The erratic power supply is estimated to have cost the country between US$4 billion and US$8 billion in 2019, according to a Council for Scientific and Industrial Research report.
Over the past 10 years the total economic impact of load-shedding is estimated to have been as high as US$22.5 billion, the report added.
NM/jn/APA