Energy expert Professor Hartmut Winkler, yesterday said it could take five years for South Africa’s power utility Eskom to provide a stable electricity supply.

Eskom has been going through a series of misfortunes which include financial debts, lack of maintainance, and resignation of top officials which has in turn resulted in erratic power cuts.

“The new Medupi and Kusile power stations should be finished, we don’t know if they will be because they have been delayed enormously and there are massive problems, even though they are new,” said Professor Winkler.

On the other hand, South Africa’s largest trade union Cosatu, wants the entire Eskom board to go.

Cosatu’s general-secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the Eskom Board had failed, “we regard the Eskom board as a team working together for a long time. We had high hopes, the Eskom board failed us desperately. We don’t see this board helping us.”

South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, announced last year that in order to save Eskom and do away with the power cuts he was going to unbundle Eskom into supply, distribution and transmission.

However, Cosatu has since threatened to shut down Eskom if Ramaphosa were to proceed with the unbundling as many jobs would be lost in the process.

News Of The South