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Despite warning us of a bleak winter with load-shedding stages numbered eight and beyond, we seem to have been on a good run lately, and quite frankly, it makes most of us suspicious rather than grateful.

Feeling grateful for fewer power outages seems obscene, but the last few weeks have had more switched-on days than not, and according to experts, it’s not because the Minister of Electricity has magic powers (he doesn’t), but rather because Eskom is burning through diesel at a crazy rate.

So much so, that they have budgeted for another R30 Billion on diesel for the financial year 2023/24. This massive fuel bill is because Eskom had burned through its 2022/2023 budget in January already. So no, the problems aren’t fixed or going away, they’re just throwing diesel at it.

Eskom recently reported that it had reached an energy availability factor (EAF) of 60% – which refers to the percentage of power that can be generated. The Eskom board has set further targets of an improved EAF of 65% (by March 31, 2024) and 70% (by March 31, 2025).

They do love setting a good target, but let’s see how it goes before we pay out bonuses, shall we?

David Lipschitz, an energy resilience expert and author of the book The Last Blackout, said he believed that alternative energy sources were contributing to the lower stages, but more diesel was also being used.