Eskom chairman Mteto Nyati said on Monday that the utility’s success at keeping load shedding at bay through the 2024 winter and beyond is only the first step in solving a number of systemic issues threatening South Africa’s energy security.
“As we move beyond load shedding, we should not get the impression that everything is hunky dory. There are a number of systemic issues that we are looking at,” Nyati said at Eskom’s summer forecast briefing at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg.
“Today I want to focus on two things, the big things that keep us awake: the problem of municipal debt is a huge one, while the other big issue … is illegal connections.”
Nyati said municipal debt continues to grow monthly and now threatens to spiral out of control if it isn’t dealt with urgently.
He emphasised that Eskom cannot solve the municipal debt issue on its own and called on society and the municipalities themselves to help the utility solve the problem.
Nyati also admonished some municipalities and metros for lawlessness, saying they are supposed to set an example to society. “We need society and the municipalities to help us with this. It is surprising that in some instances the moneys are being collected, but they are not being paid over to Eskom.”
Illegal connections are a second significant threat to energy security, with their impact felt through load reduction. Municipal infrastructure fails despite there being enough electricity to meet legal demand because the transmission lines and transformers that deliver power into homes cannot handle the illegal connections. This is especially true in the metros where household density is high.
Societal problem
According to Nyati, illegal connections are the main driver of load reduction. “We cannot continue to invest in transformers and then two weeks down the line those transformers have exploded. We are asking communities to work with us to try and address this issue.”
Beyond these “broad systemic issues”, the Eskom board has identified operational issues such as the need for strong leadership at all levels of the organisation as well as a dysfunctional organisational culture.
Read: Eskom marks 150 days of no load shedding
At a financial level, Nyati said tariffs are still not reflective of costs, despite huge price increases over the past decade. He called on society and government to come together and drive a specific focus on non-payment and illegal connections.
“These two problems talk to the values our society has – breaking the law – this is something our society needs to work on together,” he said. – © 2024 NewsCentral Media
