Eskom Latest: Power cuts ramped up, CEO Shortlist

Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. will cut 5 000 megawatts of power from the grid from 16:00 on Sunday until 5:00 on Monday, instead of 4000 megawatts, it said in a statement on Twitter.

The utility will thereafter cut 4 000 megawatts from the grid until 4 p.m. It will then repeat the pattern until further notice, it said.

CEO shortlist 

Eskom’s CEO shortlist includes Ayanda Noah, City Press reports

Ayanda Noah chairwoman of South Africa’s Central Energy Fund and former executive for customer services at Eskom, has been shortlisted to take over as chief executive officer of the country’s embattled power provider, the publication reported, without naming the people who supplied the information.

Other candidates include Dan Marokane and Vally Padayachee, the newspaper said. Both previously worked at the electricity utility.

Energy Minister’s powers assigned

President Cyril Ramaphosa has now allocated a range of powers to his electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa to enable him to address the nation’s energy crisis, almost three months after appointing him.

Ramokgopa will be able to determine which energy sources should be used to generate additional electricity and has been given the authority to enable private-sector participation in the procurement of new capacity, according to a statement from the Presidency.

The announcement transfers some responsibilities away from Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, who has faced criticism for stifling the government’s efforts to transition away from the use of coal, which is used to produce most of the nation’s electricity, and buy more green energy.

Additional reporting ny  S’thembile Cele, Paul Burkhardt and Rene Vollgraaff.

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