Electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the recent improvement in the power situation is a combination of reduced demand, better plant performance and more renewable energy uptake by households and industries. “What we are seeing now is that when units come back online, they remain on for the longer hours, so they produce for the longest hours without fail.” Eskom’s current unplanned outages are the lowest they have been since November 2022.
The calls come as SA faces a deteriorating fiscal position characterised by low growth, much reduced tax revenue, expenditure overruns and ballooning debt. [According to the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust Education Research Report, around four-fifths of grade 6 mathematics pupils in the country are taught by teachers who have Maths subject knowledge below the grade 6 level. This means that only 20% of children are receiving the required education.