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I am ready for the fight, says Minister of Electricity

Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says they will be able to resolve load shedding, but he does not want to commit to deadlines as he needs to go to the ground as he visits every power station at Eskom.

Ramokgopa said he understood the frustrations of South Africans, but his immediate task was to ensure that all the problems around the energy crisis are resolved as speedily as possible. One of the major factors was to improve the Energy Availability Factor, which was sitting at 48%, and add more megawatts to the grid.

From Thursday he will be meeting with key stakeholders and has already met Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana. “This is one of the few occasions you will see me wearing a suit. I am a project manager, project managers are on the ground. What helps me is that I am an engineer. I am ready for the fight,” said Ramokgopa.

However, he maintained that load shedding would be resolved. But to put deadlines would be irresponsible as he needs to go to the ground to visit power stations to look at all the problems, he said. “I am more than confident that we will be able to resolve load shedding, we will come back with the timelines,” said Ramokgopa.

It was not acceptable that last year the country experienced 202 days of load shedding, he said. Power cuts have had a serious impact on the economy and he will be meeting intensive users of electricity, including business and farmers. He said business consumes 40% of energy in the country and they are critical players.

In the work that is being done they want to add 9 000MW by the end of the year, said Ramokgopa. Ramokgopa also said he will meet Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. His appointment came because President Cyril Ramaphosa wanted someone to focus on load shedding.

Ramokgopa warned that load shedding will have a catastrophic effect on the economy if it was not addressed.

Source: www.iol.co.za
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