South Africa: Public Enterprises Minister Gordhan Trying to Put Out Eskom's Flames of Crisis

Top: Eskom Megawatt Park. Bottom-left: Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan. Bottom-right: President Cyril Ramaphosa (file photo)
14 February 2019

Washington, DC — Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan told parliament's public enterprises committee on Wednesday that he intends to hold responsible those who contributed to the design flaws of Eskom's mega-power stations Medupi and Kusile. This comes as the country has once again been plunged into darkness with scheduled power cuts known as "loadshedding".

Gordhan said this during the debate on the State of the Nation address, as Eskom implemented Stage 3 loadshedding due to the failure of several power plants to meet demand - a development that has infuriated many South Africans, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Addressing MPs in the National Assembly on Tuesday, Gordhan said "Eskom is currently faced with massive problems - structural, operational and financial".

In the meantime, South Africans wait to hear what the government's plan is on Eskom and whether the power outages will be a thing of the past as they were promised during former president Jacob Zuma's tenure.

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