The South African government has said daily power cuts that have disrupted operations in critical sectors over the years will soon come to an end.
The state, however, cannot commit to when exactly the frequent disruptions will cease, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said during a press conference in Tshwane, Gauteng Province on Sunday.
“I want to say to the South African people we are much, much closer to that date,” he said.
The minister added that the recovery will be as a result of increased energy production that would see the demand and supply gap being narrowed significantly.
He also suggested that the warm weather towards the end of the year would provide a conducive environment for more power generation and retention.
“I know when we get into summer conditions, generation will far exceed demand," said the minister.
‘Stable’ supply
Ramokgopa said currently, there is stable power supply lasting an average of 16 hours daily before the disruption, known locally as load-shedding.
“I eat, sleep and breathe the resolution of load-shedding and I am confident that we will resolve this,” he said.
Power disruptions in South Africa have eased of late. However, there are fears that during the winter – between July and August – there would be higher heating demand that could overwhelm the national grid.
“We hit a demand high on June 28 at 31,000 megawatts, but now we are beginning to plateau at 29,000 megawatts,” Ramokgopa said
The temperature in South Africa rises again from September, ahead of the summer season.
The country implements power cuts in stages – from one to eight. Stage eight load-shedding translates to about ten hours of power cuts daily.
