• Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has issued a statement as the county reaches 100 days of no loadshedding.
• He specifically shared his “sincere appreciation to ESKOM” for reaching the milestone.
• Ramokgopa is seemingly unaware of the persistent load reduction being implemented in Johannesburg, however.

Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, like many other Cabinet members this week, was sworn into his new portfolio of the Department of Electricity and Energy.

The minister also took time this week to highlight a significant milestone of no loadshedding in the county for 100 days.

“I am pleased to announce that we have reached 100 consecutive days without any load shedding. This achievement is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of all those involved in the energy sector. I want to express my sincere appreciation to ESKOM, its competent employees, and all stakeholders for their efforts in ensuring that we maintain a consistent power supply for our nation,” he noted in a statement.

While it is an impressive figure given how rife rolling blackouts have been in recent years, Ramokgopa is seemingly unaware of what has been happening in the City of Joburg municipality over the past few weeks.

This as load reduction was implemented by City Power on 10th June and has been in place for close to a month now. While the hours without power are nowhere near as frequent as they are when loadshedding is officially in place, load reduction coupled with severe outages in several suburbs within the municipality make the experience in a lack of power fairly comparable.

Much like loadshedding, load reduction is having an impact on businesses within Johannesburg, which is something that the absence of rolling blackouts is suppose to address, according to Ramokgopa.

“The absence of load shedding not only benefits our economy and businesses but also enhances the quality of the lives of our citizens. As we celebrate this milestone, let us remain committed to the continuous improvement of our energy infrastructure, the diversification of our energy sources and the promotion of sustainable practices,” he enthused.

While the operations of City Power may not be under his purview, celebrating 100 days of no loadshedding while the largest city in the county and economic hub for the nation is struggling to keep the lights on, rings a little false.

Hopefully more is done to address load reduction locally, as we quickly approach the one month mark with it being in place.

[Image – CC BY-ND 2.0 GovernmentZA on Flickr]