The DA suspects Eskom of playing a power game to keep the lights on until after the May 29 elections, but experts say there's more to the improved electricity situation than just burning through diesel.

In a statement released by the Democratic Alliance (DA) in late April, the opposition party expressed what many people suspect to be the case: the claim that "Eskom may be manipulating the power supply ecosystem to keep the lights on at all costs until May 29".

South Africa has now had an uninterrupted electricity supply for over a month -- which, depressingly, is the longest period without load shedding since 2022.

Naturally, people are suspicious about the timing -- the general elections are now less than a month away -- and it was previously believed that load shedding as an electoral issue was going to cost the ANC badly.

So, is the governing party somehow managing to rig the system to keep load shedding at bay until May 29 -- after which things will return to darkness as usual?

If the government was indeed managing to manipulate the situation to artificially create the perception that load shedding is decreasing, its only real means of doing that is by burning diesel.

Diesel is needed to fuel Eskom's open-cycle gas turbines, which are only supposed to be used in emergencies or situations of peak demand, because of the cost...