[imagesource: 123RF/ Jakub Gojda]

How many days in a row have we been load shat shed?

I’ve lost count but according to the Bureau for Economic Research (BER), last week was likely the worst week of load shedding in Eskom’s history.

15 years since we first heard the term and it’s only getting worse. If only somebody had sounded the alarm earlier.

Scratch that, because in 1998, an Energy White Paper predicted that “for an assumed demand growth of 4,2%, Eskom’s present generation capacity surplus will be fully utilised by about 2007”.

Zapiro has had plenty of practice when it comes to mocking Eskom and our government. This time around, he’s looking at Gwede Mantashe, our Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.

He took aim via his cartoon for The Daily Maverick:

Let’s not forget that Mantashe once fell so hard for an April Fools’ Joke that he presented it at a Mining Down Under conference in Perth.

Sadly, these ministers are shuttled from one department to the next and we’re left to suffer.

In the top corridors of Eskom, meanwhile, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has warned that things are about to change.

This via Fin24:

[He] informed the directors of Eskom that changes will be made to the board in the next few days…

With the crisis around Eskom deepening, the Cabinet resolved last week that the Eskom board should be strengthened. It is unclear whether the entire board will be replaced or some directors will be retained to allow for continuity.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter is also feeling the heat. At this stage, it’s unclear whether Gordhan has his head on the chopping block.

In a glimmer of good news, Eskom said yesterday that Koeberg’s problematic Unit Two returned to service on Sunday. It had been offline since the start of September.

The power (f)utility is also due to give an update regarding the procurement of an extra 1 000MW of power tomorrow.

[sources:dailymav&fin24]