'We are going in the right direction,' says Ramokgopa about load shedding
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says South Africa is making in strides in addressing issues of loadshedding.
Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Picture: X/Kgosientsho_R
JOHANNESBURG - Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that South Africa's had less power cuts compared to the same period last year.
He said they have made significant progress in addressing issues of load shedding, with a heavy focus on planned maintenance.
Ramokgopa told journalists at a briefing on Monday, that over the 2022/23 period, the country had 1,800 hours of load shedding.
He compared this to the 2023/24 period, where 1,200 hours of load shedding was recorded.
"So essentially, we have been able to reduce the hours of load shedding by about 600 hours. So what is the point I am making? It's that we are going in the right direction. Ultimately, we would like to get to a situation where I can stand in front of the public and say we have not experienced any hours of load shedding."
Ramokgopa said that Eskom had been able to claw back 3,510 megawatts over the past year.
He highlighted that one of the key pillars of addressing South Africa's energy crisis has been to focus on investing in planned maintenance.