South Africans have once again been forced to dust off the candles and bring out the gas stove as Eskom announced it would be implementing Stage 2 load shedding this week. The announcement is fresh off the heels of the power utility being granted a 9.61% electricity price hike last week with Cape Town mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis coming out and slamming them for its last-minute notice.
“Just a week after Eskom has been granted another 9.61% price increase which no one can afford and which is totally unfair, Eskom has again announced that our country is going back into Stage 2 load shedding,” Hill-Lewis stated on Monday.
Much to the chagrin of Capetonians, Eskom announced that load shedding would take place at 9pm on Monday, 07 March, but this was soon changed to 5pm after Medupi Unit 3 broke down.
According to Hill-Lewis, load shedding has been hampering South Africa’s economy.
“This is because Eskom continues to be the biggest handbrake on our economy and our country, in the form of load shedding and insecure electricity supply,” he stated.
As prices continue to soar, Hill-Lewis believes that there is no way to ease poverty within the country if South Africans continuously need to fork out money but electricity availability continues to decrease, as per IOL.
“That is why the City of Cape Town is working so hard to put that handbrake down permanently by reducing our reliance on Eskom and increasing the amount of IPPs – Independent Power Produces – that we buy from so we can secure electricity supply for Cape Town,” Hill-Lewis concluded.
The City of Cape Town has recently announced that its energy directorate has accepted an offer of technical assistance from the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) South African Energy Programme (SAEP).
The funding will assist the city with a range of projects that relate to renewable energy purchase, generation and energy efficiency interventions
“We are truly grateful for the USAID assistance which will go a long way in helping the City with its renewable energy purchase and generation and energy efficiency interventions,” The City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Energy, Councillor Beverley van Reenen, noted in a statement.
According to the city, the technical assistance from the USAID is free of charge and the monetary value provided will be R1.8 million.
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Picture: Twitter / Geordin Hill-Lewis