COSATU welcomes Eskom initiatives to end loadshedding
2 July 2024
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) commends Eskom on 96 days of no loadshedding. We celebrate the tireless efforts of the employees of Eskom to turn our most important economic asset around and ease the pressures on the entire nation.
Many South Africans were initially sceptical when the loadshedding-free period started in March, with some unfairly branding it an election ploy to appease voters. But with the polls firmly behind us and the government of national unity (GNU) in place led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress, the excellent progress being made by Eskom sets us on a path to close the painful chapter of loadshedding.
On Sunday Eskom announced that Kusile power station’s unit 5 was put into operation and was supplying an extra 800MW to the national grind. The power utility said unit 5 had undergone a series of tests in the last six months, during which it had met performance targets while intermittently generating power, supporting the grid and alleviating loadshedding.
According to Eskom CEO, Dan Marokane, 800MW is a fraction of the total 2 500MW that will have been added to the grid by end of this year. This follows recent progress over the past year in bringing other units of Kusile and Medupi back on grid as well as ramping up maintenance programmes.