Author Archive for: Engineering News

A new forum comprising Eskom, Transnet and domestic industrialists is to be established to improve collaboration between the two large infrastructure-focused State-owned companies and domestic manufacturers and suppliers. The initiative was unveiled by Ministers Pravin Gordhan and Ebrahim Patel in their respective Budget Votes on May 20 and comes at a time when domestic industry is warning that inadequate and erratic demand, together with power cuts and collapsing freight logistics, pose a threat to manufacturing entities and their employees.

A day after Eskom confirmed incidents of sabotage at its Tutuka power station, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan alleged that another incident of sabotage had taken place at the Hendrina power station. The Hendrina incident raises to six the number of incidents of suspected sabotage that have been reported to the South African Police Service since March 2021.

Eskom says a shortage of generation capacity has persisted, and Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 17:00 to 22:00 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “As previously communicated, due to the continued shortage of generation capacity Stage 2 load shedding will be implemented from 17:00 until 22:00 [on Friday]. Load shedding will be repeated at the same time on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Eskom will continue to closely monitor the system, adjust and communicate any changes as may be necessary,” it said in a statement on Friday morning.

A group of the world’s richest nations offered South Africa debt guarantees as part of a proposed $8.5-billion deal designed to cut the nation’s reliance on coal for power generation, people familiar with the talks said, potentially resolving one sticking point in the negotiations. The guarantees would enable South Africa or companies such as state power utility Eskom Holdings to borrow money needed to close down coal-fired power plants and enable the generation of renewable energy, one of the people said. The people asked not to be identified as the talks aren’t public.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe has described as “constructive” a proposal by the opposition Democratic Alliance for a meeting to discuss short-term solutions to the country’s ongoing load-shedding crisis. In his Budget Vote address, Mantashe outlined the initiatives his department was taking to ensure that new capacity was added and to close what Eskom estimates to be a 4 000 MW to 6 000 MW immediate shortfall.