Eskom said its interim CEO Calib Cassim is not losing sleep over a possible grid collapse as there were several controls in place to prevent a total blackout in South Africa.
Cassim reportedly made positive remarks at the Enlit Africa conference on Tuesday, amid speculation on social media that South Africa was already on stage 10 load shedding with an imminent collapse of the grid on the cards.
But according to Eskom, Cassim said he is not worried.
“This is due to the confidence in the staff at the system operator, who have the competence to manage the tight system for the past three years,” he said.
The sukkeling power utility said it noted with concern various social media posts claiming that the country would soon experience a blackout or collapse of the national electricity grid.
“Eskom refutes these claims and would like to assure South Africans that there are measures in place to avoid the collapse of the power system. Load shedding is one of these mechanisms,” it said in a statement.
The country went into panic mode last week ahead of winter as the National Rationalised Specifications Association finalised the new national rationalised specifications document – NRS048-9 Revision 2 – which proposes load shedding schedules of up to Stage 16, following Eskom’s application.
Earlier this week, EFF leader Julius Malema also went viral when he said at a media conference that a total blackout was expected in the next two weeks.
He urged government to swallow their pride and re-employ ex-Eskom workers to save the country.
However, Eskom said the risk of a national blackout, while inherent to the operation of a large power system, had an extremely low likelihood of materialising.
It stated: “The grid is by no means at a higher or imminent risk of a collapse and it would take an unforeseen and sudden sequence of events that results in a cascading collapse of the transmission or generation system, leading to a complete loss of supply across the country.
“Eskom has robust contingency plans in place to deal with such an eventuality.”
Meanwhile, Premier Alan Winde has reassured Kaapenaars that the provincial government is continuously working to mitigate the impact of severe blackouts on critical services.
Winde said on Wednesday: “The Western Cape Government [WCG] has allocated significant resources to protect basic services, as far as possible, from persistent blackouts.
“As the WCG we are working hard to ensure that despite the severity of the blackouts, residents have access to safe drinking water, sewage services, and communications connectivity, that our hospitals and clinics are able to operate, and that learning in our schools continues.”
dailyvoice@inl.co.za