The City of Cape Town says it has asked for a top-level meeting with Eskom over power cuts and their threat to new investments. The request comes in the wake of an announcement by the utility that South Africa faces another five to seven years of electricity failures.
Mayoral committee member for economic development Simon Grindrod said on Thursday he has asked to meet Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga to discuss the effects of blackouts and load shedding.
Grindrod said he is concerned at the implications for economic growth and development in the wider Cape Town region.
He said there is unprecedented interest in the city in terms of development and investment enquiries, but there is still no clarity on Eskom’s ability to provide a stable electricity supply.
”It is the number-one question asked by potential investors in terms of investing in the manufacturing and industrial sector,” he said. ”We need to be able to give them a straight answer. It is no good telling investors that normal service will be available in five to seven years.
”The world moves on while we sit in the dark, losing investment and jobs to Asia and India.”
Upgrades
Eskom’s system of rotating existing power supplies — load shedding — will be with the country for between five and seven years while systems are upgraded to cope with increased demand, the company said on Thursday.
Over the past decade, South Africa had experienced a steady growth in the demand for electricity linked to increased economic growth. This has exhausted Eskom’s surplus electricity-generation capacity and reduced the reserve margin progressively.
In response, it has accelerated the implementation of its capacity expansion programme and will invest R150-billion in the upgrading of the country’s power-supply infrastructure.
The biggest percentage of that expenditure will go towards improving generation capacity and will include the construction of new power stations.
Customers have been urged to continue conserving energy by switching off non-essential equipment and geysers to reduce demand. Businesses have been asked to switch off non-essential lighting and office equipment during peak usage periods between 7am and 10am and 6pm and 9pm.
More failures
Load shedding was to continue around the country on Thursday evening, Eskom said. Spokesperson Ra’eesah Waja said the power cuts would continue due to a shortage of capacity and an increase in the demand of electricity.
”Load shedding will continue until after the evening peak tonight [Thursday] and is expected to return to normal levels around 10pm. If there are continued power shortages, then load shedding is expected to take place tomorrow [Friday] during the morning peak between 7am to 10am,” said Waja.
The City of Tshwane was to experience load shedding until 6pm on Thursday afternoon, the municipality announced.
Suburbs affected by the power cuts were Hennopspark, Monavoni, Celtisdal, Weblynne, Eldoraigne, Tamara Park, Deltoidia, Wierda Park, Sunderland Ridge, Raslouw, Villarosa and Clubview.
”Residents are requested to exercise patience … and to treat power points as live. Motorists are also requested to drive with care as some traffic lights will not be working. Metro police officers will be at affected intersections to assist with traffic flow,” Tshwane municipality spokesperson Console Tleane said. — Sapa