City of Joburg backpedals after “no load-shedding” promise
The City of Joburg has backpedalled on its claim that Johannesburg residents will not be affected by stage 1 and stage 2 load-shedding.
On Monday morning, a joint media statement from City Power and Eskom said that City Power would follow and implement Eskom’s directive to implement load-shedding on its customers in the City of Johannesburg as required.
This comes after Joburg power utility City Power told its customers on Sunday that they would be exempt from Stage 2 load-shedding on Monday and Tuesday.
At the time, City Power spokesperson Isaac Mangena explained this was due to a power purchase agreement with Kelvin Power Station that provided the utility with up to 220MW of extra generating capacity.
“We, therefore, believe that with this extra capacity, we will be able to cushion the residents of the City from the inconvenience of load-shedding stage 1 and stage 2,” Mangena stated.
This was not the whole story, however.
City Power had sent a request to Eskom a few days ago requesting to be excluded from stage 1 and stage 2 load-shedding.
However, the new statement explains that teams from Eskom and City Power first needed to consider the technical aspects of the power station and verify the additional capacity can be added to the national grid.
“The teams will also explore technical possibilities that may see City of Johannesburg partially or fully shielded from load-shedding in the future,” the statement added.
The Kelvin Power Station near OR Tambo International Airport is the only large privately-owned coal-fired power plant in the country. It was previously owned by the City of Joburg.
Several Johannesburg residents lashed out at City Power over its u-turn, accusing it of lying in feedback to customers who claimed that they were still being load-shed.
Others said the statement was made prematurely as part of electioneering efforts ahead of the local elections on 1 November.
Yip at the end of the day Eskom calls the shots and not CP This was a sneaky move to try and gain votes 🗳 but played out to the detriment of the public who were left confused Next Eskom would have implemented stage 3 that would have reach far more people than just CP customers
— Rosemary (@roseyfischer) October 25, 2021
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