Eskom lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14,000MW. Emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day.

Anything above 9 500MW means that Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation: open cycle gas turbines and pumped storage hydro electrical plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly gas turbines as they require large quantities of diesel. They can only be used for short periods before diesel and water reserves run out.

“As a result we have to loadshed throughout the day until tomorrow. We will give South Africans regular updates about our prognosis for tomorrow and our recovery efforts for the rest of the week leading into the weekend,” Eskm said in a statement.
Stage two loadshedding throughout Thursday and into Friday
Jan 09 2020 07:03

An electricity pylon
(iStock).
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South Africans will suffer stage two loadshedding starting from 08:00 on Thursday morning, right through to Friday morning at 06:00.

The system remains severely constrained and unpredictable, the utility said in a statement.

Guide: Find your load shedding schedule
Eskom lost additional generation capacity overnight with breakdowns of over 14,000MW. Emergency reserves are also insufficient to meet the demand for electricity during the day.

Anything above 9 500MW means that Eskom has to resort to emergency power generation: open cycle gas turbines and pumped storage hydro electrical plants. These are very expensive ways of generating power, particularly gas turbines as they require large quantities of diesel. They can only be used for short periods before diesel and water reserves run out.

“As a result we have to loadshed throughout the day until tomorrow. We will give South Africans regular updates about our prognosis for tomorrow and our recovery efforts for the rest of the week leading into the weekend,” Eskm said in a statement.

Eskom has not managed to keep unplanned breakdowns at below 9,500MW – the level at which it is forced to consider loadshedding – for a single day since December 4, 2019.

Unexpected bouts of loadshedding in January – a time of low electricity demand – was triggered by the failure of a conveyor belt feeding coal from Exxaro’s Grootegeluk mine to the Medupi power station in Lephalale, Limpopo.

The 7km-long coal conveyor belt is supposed to transport 4,000 tons of coal per hour to Medupi. The belt first started giving problems in October, when the tail-end of the belt suddenly snapped and twisted, with the weight of the coal damaging the machine.

The top performer at a special needs school in Limpopo, Tiyani Mbendzani, lost his sight in Grade 5.

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A man has been arrested after the body of missing 12-year-old Michaela Williams was found in Philippi, Cape Town, in the early hours of Thursday morning, Western Cape police have said.

Williams was last seen at her Crane Street residence in New Horizon, Grassy Park, on Tuesday afternoon and was reported missing in the early hours of Wednesday morning.She was in the company of a man who lived in the same street.

Brigadier Novela Potelwa said various people searched for her and a 48-year-old man was interviewed after vital information was received.

“The interview led to him pointing out where the body was in Schaapkraal, Philippi.”

He has been charged with murder and is expected to appear in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Friday.

“A post mortem will soon be conducted to determine how she died and whether any more charges could be added,” said Potelwa.

Provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Yolisa Matakata expressed her shock at the death of another child in such a horrific manner.

She thanked those who searched for Williams and said the perpetrator deserved a harsh sentence.

“While this will not bring back the life lost… the lengthy incarceration of the perpetrator will ensure the communities of Cape Town are much safer.”

KwaZulu-Natal’s top-performing Correctional Services inmate has called on young people to refrain from drugs and negative influences, saying education has given him a second chance at life.

“I was a drug addict before, and I got out of school. There’s no future in drugs. It is either they kill you or you go to prison,” Westville Prison inmate Sandile Stangoni told News24 on Wednesday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the KZN leg of the 2019 matric top achievers event.

Stangoni, who managed a whopping four As, said there were many challenges with studying in prison. He has been imprisoned since June 2018.

“It has been a difficult year. It is not easy studying in prison. There are a lot of things that you cannot do in prison. Many things are happening around you.”He however persevered, refusing to give up.

“But I told myself that nothing is more important than education. So, I went all out and studied – sleepless nights. I’d like to thank the effort my teachers made, who helped me to get where I am today.”

Stangoni said sometimes it was not easy to get information for assignments.

“We also don’t have some study notes, so you have to share. But again, through the excellent job of our teachers, I made it.”

He said his strategy was consistency and getting help from others.

“During my exams I formed study groups, studied hard, gave myself time to sleep and had lots of water.”

While he still has at least another year to serve, Stangoni said he hoped to study architecture in 2021.

“I have parole next year.”

Poor results

Meanwhile, KZN saw a marked improvement in the pass rate with a 5% increase to 81.3%, up from 2018’s 76.2%.

Of the 116 937 pupils who sat for examinations, 44 189 achieved a bachelors pass. This is up from 2018, when 38 573 managed the pass.

Statistics also revealed that 201 schools in the province obtained a 100% pass in 2019 compared to 121 schools in 2018.

However, three schools had a dismal 0% pass rate.

Reacting to the poor results, MEC for Education Kwazi Mshengu said remedial measures at the schools were the key focus.

“As we review our academic improvement plan, we will be paying attention to them.”

The country has been hit, yet again, by a round of rolling blackouts, despite promises from Ramaphosa that there would be no load shedding throughout the festive season.

While out interacting with people during a walkabout in Diamond Pavilion Mall in Kimberley, where the ANC is hosting its annual January 8 celebrations, Mabuza was asked about government’s response to the latest wave of power cuts.

“They’ve misled the president, but right from the day we went there with the president I insisted on maintenance. Maintenance of these power stations is very important,” Mabuza told journalists when asked if Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom board had misled the Mabuza said he was concerned about promising there would be no load shedding due to Eskom’s “aging” power stations.

“You can’t say there won’t be any load shedding if there is no effective maintenance of these power stations, some are old of course and we must rebuild these power stations of course we must also get the new ones running to full capacity,” he said

The deputy president added that the Eskom board had been “struggling to get things right”, noting that there was the added challenge of operating without a full-time chief executive at one stage.

Board chairman Jabu Mabuza was appointed acting CEO in July after Phakamani Hadebe resigned as the utility’s executive head.Andre de Ruyter took over the helm of the ailing parastatal on Monday.

The deputy president described the fact that Jabu Mabuza served both as board chairperson and acting CEO as “unfortunate”.

David Mabuza said government wanted to give de Ruyter time to do his own assessment of the state of Eskom.

“Soon I am going to meet with him in order for him to tell us exactly where can we assist him.”