Load reduction a threat to the economy: Ramokgopa

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Electricity Minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramakgopa says escalating levels of load reduction by municipalities are gradually threatening the stability of the country’s economy.

He was briefing the media in Pretoria on Monday.

According to Ramakgopa, poor planning, lack of infrastructure maintenance by municipalities and the failure to maintain and preserve all infrastructure have placed it under severe strain.

Ramakgopa says to mitigate against this, municipalities have been left with no choice but to initiate load reduction.

“We have seen that there is little to no investment that has been made in the replenishing maintenance. This includes the upkeep, protection and modernisation of this infrastructure… That’s the crisis that is confronting us,” says Ramokogpa.

He adds, “The distribution infrastructure does not have the capacity to meet the reticulation demand and as a result, households do have electricity during parts of the day.”

He said the crisis of load reduction does not involve Eskom but has everything to do with the downstream action of municipalities.

While South Africans have not experienced load shedding for over three months, the recent chilly weather up increased electricity demand.

Energy Crisis | ‘Electricity affordability is a challenge’: Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa