- Cargo shedding was very bad in January.
- Stage 6, almost unthinkable not so long ago, was declared three times.
- But it was the constant use of Stage 4 and Stage 5 load shedding that really took its toll throughout the entire month.
- On average, Eskom declared Stage 4 load shedding in January, unlike the Stages 2 to 3 averages South Africans have grown accustomed to.
- For more stories, visit www.BusinessInsider.co.za.
January was significantly worse than December for those who rely on Eskom for power, and much, much worse than October and November, load shedding figures for the month show.
In the latter part of last year, as cold weather was behind most of the country, Eskom’s average emergency declaration hovered just below or above Stage 2, data maintained by the EskomSePush app shows. . Stage 6, and even Stage 5, was never declared.
In December, things started to go wrong.
Stage 6 was considered just a theoretical calculation until it was suddenly declared for the first time in late 2019. Its return was deemed a national emergency. But in December, despite much of the economy ground to a halt for the Christmas holidays, Eskom declared Stage 6 on three different days. The result was an average state of load shed just above 3.
Also in January Eskom declared Stage 6 on three different days, most recently last night. But he also declared Stage 5 on five separate occasions and used Stage 4 almost constantly.]
In fact, in the first month of 2023, Stage 2, once the mainstay, was used only twice.
As a result, if you tuned in to Eskom’s regular load shedding statements, the average number you would have heard in January was 4.
The ANC’s national executive committee (NEC) has now backed the idea of declaring a national state of disaster around load shedding.
Such a declaration would give the executive government the same sweeping powers it exercised during the Covid-19 lockdowns, with the ability to rule by decree and allocate resources without the go-ahead from Parliament.
As during the anti-coronavirus measures, control would rest with cooperative governance minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, who could delegate authority to other ministers.
However, it is not clear what the government would actually do with such powers. It has refused to give Eskom cash to buy diesel for its expensive emergency generators, while Chairman Cyril Ramaphosa has called on Eskom not to implement the price increase that regulators have granted it.
