Jan oberholzer
No choice but to continue with power cuts, says Eskom
Eskom executives said that they agreed that the ongoing power cuts were unacceptable but they did not want to plunge the power utility back to where it was at...
The utility said it wanted to set the record straight months after Jan Oberholzer was accused of favouring the interests of contractor Aveng by pressuring an employee to pay off a R40 million invoice to that company.
The utility is warning that it could implement stage two load shedding if the situation doesn't improve.
Jan Oberholzer was accused of corruption, dishonesty, conflict of interest, and abuse of power in relation to alleged links to Eskom contractor, Stefanutti Stocks.
The EFF earlier called for the immediate removal of Jan Oberholzer as Eskom COO after damning allegations of misconduct, nepotism and abuse of power were levelled against him.
More generating units have broken down, resulting in the utility battling to meet the high demand for electricity.
Eskom COO Jan Oberholzer said that the utility still needed to do more long term maintenance on its aging infrastructure, at least until the end of next year July before it will be adequate enough to stop load shedding completely.
Eskom has been using the lockdown period to conduct short-term maintenance on its aging infrastructure.
Jan Oberholzer was cleared of wrongdoing by an inquiry that probed his conduct following a series of allegations including corruption, conflict of interest, and abuse of power.
This follows a series of allegations of corruption, dishonesty, conflict of interest and abuse of power levelled against him in March.
It’s understood Corruption Watch and Saftu received information from an Eskom employee that he was allegedly prejudiced after speaking out against Oberholzer.
The Eskom board’s appearance before Scopa didn’t get off to a good start, with MPs expressing their dissatisfaction with the quality of information they had presented.
Stage 2 load shedding is under way until 11 pm on Wednesday.
The president had faced backlash for leaving country moments after Eskom announced an unprecedented stage six lead shedding earlier this week.
South Africans are still reeling from Eskom’s surprise announcement of stage 6 load shedding on Monday with many calling for decisive action and an explanation from government.
Eskom said it had lost 6 power units since Saturday due to boiler tube leaks, with COO Jan Oberholzer saying they were now tapping into emergency resources.
The company has told Parliament’s Public Enterprises committee that it does not foresee any load shedding in the foreseeable future.
Jan Oberholzer previously served as the COO of the distribution division at Eskom.