Eskom het sy eie planne laat implementeer, sy #Thumamina. “Eskom kies die tye beslis met presisie vir beurtkragte regdeur die land.” TOEVALLIG “breek masjienerie nie almal gelyktydig nie”, dus hoekom die skuld plaas daarop – verseker was daar genoeg tyd vir herstelwerk of normale onderhoud? Werkers het reeds maande gedreig met stakings. Is dit regtig eerder sabotasie aan/van Eskom self?
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Beurtkrag gaan steeds voort nes 3 jaar gelede. Maak dit ‘n verskil as daar gelyktydig nie onderhoud op masjinerie gedoen word sodat daar so gereeld as moontlik kragonderbrekings plaasvind. Direkteure en bestuur verdien almal groot salarisse en byvoordele.
Waarom word nou versoek vir kragverhogings nadat niks herstelwerk gedoen is nie en diegene wat krag steel moet opdok en afgeskakel word – waarom word hulle skuld afgeskryf – #Thumamina?
Waarom spring Gordhan op sy perd en probeer red met die kansellasie van vakansieplanne vir al die seniors en bestuur, terwyl die res waarskynlik reeds weg is om te gaan rus of swem – net nog ‘n #Thumamina?
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Eskom implemented their own #Thumamina. Too many excuses on their list why there are no lights – but there are enough coal to be exported or at the mines. Remember it is the #Thumamina with coal and Eskom, Guptas and #Ramaphosa.
Ramaphosa delivered his maiden state of the nation address earlier this year quoting Hugh Masekela’s Thuma Mina sign which has become the rallying cry to improve service delivery. The ANC has vowed to use its Thuma Mina Campaign to intensify the delivery of services to the people. It unveiled the campaign to the media in Tembisa, east of Johannesburg, earlier this afternoon. The campaign also seeks to restore the dignity and credibility of the ANC within communities as it prepares for the 2019 elections. (sabcnews)
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Die afgelope dae se beurtkragte het geen kragbesparings meegebring nie – altans dis wat aan ons “melkkoeie” wat staan om leeggemelk te word, verkoop word. Heelwat mense vat die langpad binneland toe of see toe, weg van huis en haard. Dis so belangrik om te weet jou huis is veilig, maar tog, as daar iets verkeerd gaan met elektrisiteit of toerusting, na ‘n beurtkrag, iets skop nie reg in nie, wag daar ‘n verrassing op jou as jy terugkeer.
Tref voorsorg.
If you go on holiday, make sure there are somebody that will keep an eye for you while you are away. Be safe.
Let op wie rondom se krag word nie afgesit nie – die wat gesteelde kragverbruik het? Neem foto’s as daar bewyse is.
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Ted Blom – The worst thing is to employ people that do not know what’s going on. “The ruling party is not prepared to look outside of the party for people who know what they are doing.” He is a senior energy and mining and commodities strategist and tactician.
Locals and businesses:
Locals claim that Eskom is using load-shedding to force Nersa to approve the huge increases for which they asked. “After-hours are bad enough, and of course the traffic jams, but during business hours everything slows down – something no business can afford in these economic times.” Pieters explained the conundrum each business is faced with: to run a generator costs thousands of rand a day, but without an alternative electricity source one might lose business or fall behind and need to catch up after-hours, which carries additional costs. It is a lose-lose for everyone.
“Nobody can really afford it and small businesses cannot carry the losses. This is down to poor management. Eskom is sabotaging businesses.”
Last year Eskom applied for a 19,9 per cent average increase in electricity tariffs from the the National Energy Regulator of South Africa. It was granted only a 5,23 per cent increase for 2018/19. Now it has applied for a 15 per cent increase for three years from 2019 until 2022.
“It appears as if Eskom wants to force Nersa to approve the huge increases, which will definitely have a more serious impact on the growth of our economy.”
Anna-Marth Ott, chief operating officer of the Middelburg Chamber Commerce and Industry, said Eskom cannot claim that it does not have coal. “We did an audit. I phoned each and every mine listed in the 200-kilometre area around Middelburg and plotted their GPS coordinates. There are 170 and they are all operational. “Whether Eskom has problems with supplier contracts or a shortage of money or does not like the coal, I don’t know, but they cannot say there is no coal.”
Thea Rix
“It is not going to stop. We first got warnings about load-shedding in 1997. Now corruption at Eskom as made the situation so serious, people are going to have to try and get self-sufficient.
“We have to start looking at what we can do differently. People need to prepare themselves. Generators are not practical for everyone, but there are other options such as solar and gas.”
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THIS IS NOT NEW
#THUMAMINA
8 Desember 2018
An increase in breakdowns at Eskom’s power stations on Saturday has further affected the availability of sufficient generation capacity and load shedding will likely move to stage two on Sunday, the state-owned power utility said. “As a result, we have been unable to build up the necessary reserves for the week ahead. We therefore regret to announce that up to stage two load shedding remains a high probability for [Sunday].
“As previously announced, there also remains a high probability of stage two load shedding for Monday, 10 December. We apologies for the late notification and the inconvenience this may cause,” Eskom said. “We continue to appeal to residents and businesses to use electricity sparingly during this period. Please switch off geysers as well as all non-essential lighting and electricity appliances to assist in reducing demand,” it said.
Power plant breakdowns increase likelihood of load shedding on Sunday – Eskom
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SWART BEMAGTIGING – RASSISME EN DISKRIMINASIE TEENOOR BLANKES – wetgewing is vergete by die volgende toespraak van die Minister
GORDHAN AND ESKOM
South Africans have managed to avoid the terror of rolling blackouts for almost a decade. The last time the country suffered consecutive bouts of load shedding was back in 2008. Then, the electrical grid shuddered and spluttered, disrupting the lives of millions of South Africans. While things are not quite that bad today, the same darkness which embattled the local economy ten years ago threatens to reappear in calamitous fashion as a result of Eskom’s operational incompetence. On Thursday afternoon, Gordhan held a media conference at Eskom’s Megawatt Park headquarters. Flanked by Eskom’s senior executives, the Public Enterprises Minister revealed why the power utility was failing and what emergency procedures would be implemented to mitigate load shedding and further operational malaise.
Load shedding: A multifaceted problem
While the deterioration of Eskom’s potential has been analysed and publicised ad nauseam, Gordhan reiterated that corruption, nepotism and general mismanagement have led South Africa’s most vital state entity down a road of destruction. Gordhan explained that Eskom’s misgivings were directly related to state capture, and that under the dubious tenure of previous management structures, proper procurement processes were flouted. While the minister didn’t mention names, it’s well known that Eskom, under the despotic rule of Brian Molefe, inked a coal supply deal with Tegeta – a Gupta owned company which has since been placed under business rescue administration. And while Eskom’s dire coal shortage has been defined as the greatest danger facing the utility’s power production, Gordhan explained that the current wave of load shedding resulted from poor maintenance, saying:
“When you capture an entity like this, you don’t do it for fun. You capture it because you can extract resources from it. We all know that recapturing institutions that were under state capture is not the favourite thing that people want.
We have to strengthen our capacity for monitoring and understanding.”
As reported by EWN, Gordhan pointed to serious budgetary constraints which enveloped the power utility in 2010 as a cause for the disastrous maintenance plan which has now manifested in load shedding, saying:
“As a result if you had another 2,500 of what they call the reserve margin, in other words, that’s the safety that needs to be kept all the time in order for the system to work, then we are unable to meet the current demand of about 29,000 megawatts, which is what you have in summer.
The Department of Public Enterprises should have a handle on what’s going on, but we have one energy expert so we have no capacity.”
“Let’s call it sabotage”
The Public Enterprises Minister also referenced the presence of nefarious elements hellbent on destroying Eskom infrastructure. While the minister only eluded to sabotage without mentioning names, Eskom has been embattled by ongoing industrial action undertaken by employees and trade unions.
Protest action reached a fever pitch earlier in the year when it was first revealed that disgruntled factions had damaged the electricity grid. While trade unions have always strongly denied their role in the alleged sabotage, Gordhan explained that these acts have severely undermined the company’s operational capabilities, saying:
“We are not sure yet whether there’s an element of undermining of the power system as well, let’s call it sabotage.”
Gordhan’s plan to get Eskom back on track
Gordhan has promised to implement emergency strategies which would minimise the risk of load shedding. The aim, Gordhan says, is to retract load shedding cycles before Christmas. For that to happen, Eskom needs all hands on deck. As a result, Gordhan has cancelled festive season leave for all of Eskom’s senior executives and plant managers, saying:
“All senior managers of Eskom have been asked to cancel their leave.
There’ll be a very intensive look over the next 10 days, that’s part of the action plan to understand exactly what the nature of the problems is, which ones are easily fixable and which ones will take some time to fix.
We will need a week-by-week plan in terms of who is taking responsibility for what. And consequence management – someone must take the fall for it [prolonged load shedding].”
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THUMAMINA is ‘n belofte en niks meer nie. LEEG – It is only promises – Included ESKOM AND ALL OTHER SOE’S
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DISCUSSIONS – JUNE 2018
Wage talks between Eskom and the National Union of Metalworkers (NUM), alongside Numsa on Thursday had a fruitless end as members of the two unions staged a walkout as negotiations collapsed. As reported by eENC, the power utility has decided not to offer a wage increase this time around, citing its well-documented financial problems, something which has not gone down well with the unions, who are now threatening to plunge the country into darkness if an offer is not placed on the table.
Following the talks, Numsa issued a statement revealing a hostile environment during the wage negotiation, as the talks were held in the presence of private security personnel.
“We cannot be expected to talk with the threat of guns hovering above us,” Numsa said.
Eskom strike: What are the unions demanding?
According to The Citizen, the workers are demanding an increase of 15% across the board, a R2 000 increase in housing allowance, as well as an 80% contribution into medical aid from the power utility. Numsa spokesperson, Phakamile Hlubi-Majola says Eskom have shown that their only concern is enriching those who are affiliated to the ANC.
“They have shown that they do not care about workers and their families” Hlubi-Majola is quoted by the publication. “They are only concerned with enriching those who are politically connected to the governing body.”
Eskom’s financial woes continue
Despite an overhaul at the power utility by President Cyril Ramaphosa, its financial woes have not shown any signs of letting up. The cash-strapped parastatal is reportedly not planning to make any new appointments or issuing out any bonuses anytime soon. Eskom spokesperson, Khulu was on eNCA, where he revealed that they are making an effort to rein in costs, which has led to them holding firm to their zero percent offer.
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5 December 2018
There is no shortage of coal, as Eskom claims. Instead, the coal is piling up at the mines, uncollected by the utility, Anna Marth Ott, CEO of Middelburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said yesterday. Middelburg is positioned between three large Eskom power stations, and there are 170 coal mines within a 200 km radius of the town.
Speaking to The Witness yesterday, she said that Eskom had ceased taking delivery of the coal for reasons unknown to her, for the past month, and that its “wording” to the public about the coal shortage was incorrect.
“How can Eskom tell us there is no coal?” she asked.
Spokespeople for Eskom did not respond to questions from The Witness about the coal supplies by the time of going to print.
—Witness 5 December 2018
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THUMAMINA
Nothing is more relevant and appropriate in South Africa today than Kennedy’s immortal words. In the last twenty four years of democracy, South Africa has been sinking into a morass of dependence, entitlement and helplessness. Millions of able and normal citizens look upon the state to do things for them as they shamelessly convert themselves into passive and pathetic recepients of “delivery.” In its naïveté born of lack of experience in government and bidding for power in the countdown to the first ever democratic elections in 1994, South Africa’s foremost liberation movement, the African National Congress, promised the people of South Africa heaven on earth – free housing, free education, free healthcare, free services of all kinds all over the place.
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more relevant information:
SA Parliament Eskom 2 September 2020
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