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Eskom says after making some ground in recovering generation capacity, it may lift all stages of load shedding on Friday evening.

The power utility has been battling generation unit failures throughout the past week, which have tipped the country into the more stringent stage four load shedding – dropping down to stage three on Wednesday evening.

Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said the power utility is recovering some of the lost capacity back into the system.

“We were sitting way in excess of 16 000MW of unplanned losses earlier in the week, so the system is recovering. We are seeing some big units coming back as planned. Demand for this evening’s peak is 30 011MW and our available capacity is 28 022MW.  [This] therefore explains why we have to maintain load shedding stage three until after evening peak tonight.

“We intend to drop [load shedding] to stage two and then by after evening peak on Friday, we will be hopefully in a position to lift load shedding in its entirety, depending how the system performs. We will continue to return units to service over the next two days so that we will be in a position – if all goes well, given the risks – that we can then lift load shedding by the weekend,” he said.

The generation units that the power utility has been able to reconnect to the system are Arnot power station unit two and six, Kendal power station unit three, Matimba power station unit five and Majuba power station unit three.

De Ruyter said reserve generation capacity at the power utility’s open cycle gas turbines is also recovering sufficiently.

Despite progress in the recovery of generation units, De Ruyter reported that there were other unplanned breakdowns and an enforced outage from Mozambique’s Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric power station, which feeds into Eskom.

“We did lose Grootvlei [power station unit] two… due to a boiler tube leak. There is a loss of 270MW due to maintenance done on the line from Cahora Bassa. This maintenance is being conducted in Mozambique by our partners on that line, so we are doing everything we can to assist them in order to complete that maintenance.

“We unfortunately did lose Tutuka six this morning… due to a submerged scraper chain that got stuck. This chain clears the ash at the bottom of the boiler and when we cannot clear the ash, we have challenges running the boiler. That leads to a loss of about 365MW,” he said.

The week ahead 

De Ruyter was cautiously optimistic about a low forecast for load shedding next week.

“At the moment… we don’t anticipate load shedding for next week. However, that is dependent on the stability of our generating units. We are all aware that there are risks in the system that are difficult to forecast and predict.

“Depending on how we perform over the weekend and depending on rain that is forecast for the Mpumalanga area… where the majority of our coal plants are located, we may potentially see further impacts and that may have an impact on availability of generating capacity particularly for Monday next week.

“But after that, if we can bring those units back that are currently planned to return to service and if we can get additional reduction in partial load losses, we should be okay. So we don’t plan for load shedding next week but we must emphasise that there is always a residual risk,” he said.

Social Development Minister, Lindiwe Zulu, has received a donation of R1 million from the Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to South Africa, Chen Xiaodong, on Wednesday.

The donation is aimed at bolstering the reach of government’s ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in the flood-stricken KwaZulu-Natal.

The donation follows the declaration of the National State of Disaster on Monday after various municipal areas of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape were ravaged by extreme weather conditions, including a fire disaster in Langa, Western Cape, that left scores of people displaced.

Zulu said the donation will support emergency humanitarian and recovery efforts in the affected areas.

“On behalf of the people and the government of the Republic of South Africa, we extend our deepest gratitude to the government of the People’s Republic of China for this generous donation. [It] will enable us to meet the immediate needs of hundreds of families affected by the recent floods, including people who are displaced from their homes, to get back on their feet,” Zulu said at a ceremony held in Pretoria.

On Tuesday, the Minister visited the flood-stricken Ndwedwe and Mandeni Local Municipalities under iLembe District Municipality to provide the much-needed relief to families affected by the disaster.

These two municipalities are among the worst hit by the disaster that left a trail of destruction, resulting in the loss of over 400 lives, including three members of the Mdletshe family in Ndwedwe.

During her visit, Zulu interacted with affected families, local community-based organisations, community leaders and social service professionals deployed to provide psychosocial support services in the area.

She once again offered her condolences to victims and families of the deadly floods.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with those who have lost their loved ones and those who are uncertain about the fate of their loved ones. We have deployed psychosocial support teams where our services are needed most. We are also working with a number of partners to support humanitarian relief efforts,” she said.

Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements will hold public hearings into the Housing Consumer Protection Bill.

At the centre of the bill is regulating and streamlining processes to ensure consumers’ protection within the home building environment.

“Through this bill, it is hoped that home builders will benefit by appointing registered builders, which will ensure quality housing, as well as extend protection through the extension of warranty cover,” said committee chairperson, Machwene Semenya.

The bill proposes these protections through the repeal of the Housing Consumers Protection Measures Act of 1998, by providing protections for housing consumers, registration of homebuilders, continuance of home warranty fund, and sets out the framework to claim against the fund.

The bill also provides continuance of the National Home Builders Registration Council as the National Home Building Regulatory Council.

“Also, an important pillar of the bill is its transformative outlook, which seeks to improve builders and downstream the consumers. This protection is proposed through the bill’s call for registration of builders, which will require proper training for builders, which will enable full economic participation.

“Furthermore, a database of registered builders and their grading would assist the sector in knowing what builders are available and at what level,” Semenya said.

The public hearings are scheduled to take place in the Eastern Cape from 22 to 24 April 2022.

Semenya emphasised that the public consultation and participation are a constitutional requirement that Parliament is obliged to undertake within its decision-making processes.

“These hearings are in line with Section 59 (1) of the Constitution, which urges for public involvement in the legislative making process of the Assembly. Also, we are hopeful that as the primary beneficiaries of the protections proposed by the bill, [we] will present qualitative inputs aimed at improving the bill to ensure that it meets daily challenges,” Semenya said.

The hearings on 22 April will be held at Ikhwezi Hall in Khwezi township, Umthatha, followed by hearings at NU10 Hall in Mdantsane on 23 April.

The final hearings in the Eastern Cape will be held at Wells Estate Hall in Motherwell, Gqeberha.

The hearings will get underway at 10 am.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC), in partnership with the Department of Basic Education, is expected to launch a campaign aimed at promoting electoral democracy among learners.

“The objective of the Schools Democracy Programme, which has a focus week from 25 – 29 April to coincide with Freedom Day, is to promote electoral democracy among learners, and prepare them to be active citizens, who will be part of decisions about their own future,” said the IEC ahead of the launch.

As part of the campaign, thousands of learners across the country will engage in civic education and electoral registration activities.

Friday’s launch of the Schools Democracy Programme 2022 campaign will take place at Rekgaratlile High School in Kuruman, Northern Cape.

Basic Education Deputy Minister, Dr Reginah Mhaule and Bonolo Modise, the Northern Cape Provincial Electoral Officer, will address the launch. IEC staff will be on hand to assist students with information. They will answer questions about democracy and elections democracy, as well as demonstrate the latest election management technology.

Research has shown that while young people make up the majority of the South African population, their participation in elections remains low.

The IEC is addressing this through, among others, the Schools Democracy Programme and the Tertiary Institutions Voter Education Campaign.

“Empowering the young citizens of South Africa with knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for active citizenship and encouraging them to register and vote is critical to nurturing our young democracy.

“This is supported by research that shows that once people have voted once, they usually continue to vote in future elections,” said the Commission’s Chief Electoral Officer, Sy Mamabolo.

South Africa has recorded 2 846 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 746 424, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said on Wednesday.

The increase represents a 13.4% positivity rate.

“Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 16 deaths, and of these, eight occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 100 211 to date,” said the NICD.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng (46%), followed by KwaZulu-Natal (23%).

The Western Cape accounted for 17% of the new cases, Eastern Cape 6%, Free State 3%, Mpumalanga and the North West 2% each, Limpopo and Northern Cape 1% each.

Meanwhile, there has been an increase of 68 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours.

Additionally, 24 234 233 tests have been conducted in both public and private sectors.

Law enforcement agencies are expected to be out in full force as thousands of travellers head to various destinations over the Easter long weekend.

Busy routes during this period include the N1 from Gauteng to Limpopo, the N3 from Gauteng to KwaZulu-Natal, the N2 from the Western Cape to Eastern Cape, the N14 from Gauteng to the North West and the N12.

In a Tweet, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula said he would on Thursday join law enforcement on the roads as they oversee the anticipated traffic influx.

“Over the next few days, our national roads will, once again carry millions of motorists, one of the greatest movement of people over a single long weekend, as people will be travelling to different destinations for the Easter holidays,” he said.

Launching the 2022 Easter Road Safety campaign earlier in the week, the Minister said law enforcement would focus on safety belts, roadworthiness of vehicles, fatigue, drunk driving, pedestrian safety and dangerous driving (speeding, recklessness and overtaking on barrier lines).

In January and February this year, 1 823 people lost their lives on South African roads. This was higher compared to the 1 521 fatalities in the same period in 2021.

Over the last five years, KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Limpopo accounted for the highest number of fatalities compared to other provinces.

All provinces experienced spikes in fatalities in the first two months of the year, with Gauteng leading with 355 deaths, followed by KZN with 269, Western Cape 249, Limpopo 239 and Eastern Cape 23, the Minister revealed.

The Department of Home Affairs says most of its offices in the KwaZulu-Natal province are experiencing network problems.

This comes as heavy rains in the province have caused damage to communication infrastructure, which Home Affairs uses to provide its services.

“Offices in KZN will prioritise death registration and issuance of Temporary IDs. For this purpose, mobile trucks have been deployed to high volume offices in an effort to bring services closer to the people,” the Department of Home Affairs said in a statement.

For other services, members of the public are advised not to go to the offices until further notice.

“Technicians are attending to the problem to ensure the connectivity problem is resolved. Delays are expected as some roads are still blocked due to floods,” the department said.

The department apologises for the inconvenience caused to citizens and clients.

The Department of Water and Sanitation has reiterated that the Shongweni Dam, located west of Pinetown, in KwaZulu-Natal, has not collapsed.

This follows a video making the rounds on social media, alleging that Shongweni Dam has collapsed due to flooding in the province.

The department has denounced the report as untrue, and an “unnecessary ploy” by reckless social media users meant to cause panic amid a tragedy affecting KwaZulu-Natal residents.

Director in the Dam Safety Regulation Unit within the department, Wally Ramokopa, said the dam is equipped with 10 hydroplus fuse gates, which are designed to “tip” and fail in sequence to avoid catastrophic failure of the entire dam.

“Gate 1 on the far-left and Gate 2 on the far-right started tipping when the dam reached a specific level; this is part of the design and is therefore a safety measure. Had this not occurred, the dam was going to be subjected to more pressure, which would threaten the stability of the concrete wall and possible overtopping of the non-overspill crest.

“So, it is behaving as it should during flooding conditions as presently experienced in parts of KZN. A team of experienced dam safety office engineers is on high alert to monitor the situation at the dam, there is absolutely no need to be alarmed,” Ramokopa said.

Ramokopa said the rest of the eight gates would fail should the water level rise higher than 2.4 metres above the full supply level at intervals of 0.1 metres until the last gate fuses, and this should happen in a specific sequence.

He, however, admitted that the dam’s storage capacity would unfortunately be reduced if such an eventuality occurs until the fuse gates are restored.

The department reiterated its plea to residents to steer away from riverbanks and overflowing dams as persistent rains are still forecast in the province and some parts of the country during the Easter Weekend.

South Africa has recorded 1 659 new COVID-19 cases bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases to 3 735 578.

This increase represents a 7.5% positivity rate, said the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) in a statement.

“Due to the ongoing audit exercise by the National Department of Health (NDoH), there may be a backlog of COVID-19 mortality cases reported. Today, the NDoH reports 16 deaths, and of these, one occurred in the past 24 – 48 hours. This brings the total fatalities to 100,132 to date,” it said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, there has been an increase of 28 hospital admissions in the past 24 hours while 24 116 414 tests were conducted in both the public and private sectors.

The majority of new cases are from Gauteng province (47%), followed by the Western Cape (23%).

KwaZulu-Natal accounted for 16%, Eastern Cape accounted for 6%, Free State and Mpumalanga each accounted for 2%, Limpopo, Northern Cape and North West each accounted for 1% of new cases.

Eskom says it is remains cautiously optimistic that stage two load shedding will be lifted on Friday morning ahead of the Easter weekend.

The country – barring the flood-affected eThekwini Municipality – has been under stage two load shedding since Wednesday afternoon due to breakdowns and trips at the power utility’s power stations.

Load shedding had also been implemented on Monday and Tuesday evening.

“The power system remains fragile and while that holds, Eskom will continue with the current instance of load shedding as previously communicated, which will be suspended at 5am on Friday. The planned suspension of load shedding is due, in part, to the lower demand expected over the weekend.

“However, there remains a possibility that load shedding will need to be implemented during next week as the demand returns,” Eskom said.

The power utility reported the following breakdowns and returns to service at power stations:

• A unit at Kendall Power Station tripped
• A unit at Kusile Power Station also tripped but was returned to service
• At least one of the five units that tripped at Camden Power Station this week is back online

“Eskom will undertake opportunity maintenance during the low demand weekend to address some [further] risk on running units.

“During the weekend, Eskom will [also] release some water into the river system from the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme in order to relieve the capacity constraints that have been created by the heavy rains. This will be done in a responsible manner in collaboration with the authorities,” Eskom said.

The power utility said it will keep the public informed on any changes in the stability of the grid.

“Eskom would like to inform the public that any further deterioration in generation capacity may require further load shedding. We therefore request the public to continue using electricity sparingly particularly over the long weekend to assist to replenish the emergency generation reserves in anticipation of the coming week,” the power utility said.