The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) commends Eskom on 96 days of no loadshedding. We celebrate the tireless efforts of the employees of Eskom to turn our most important economic asset around and ease the pressures on the entire nation.

Many South Africans were initially sceptical when the loadshedding-free period started in March, with some unfairly branding it an election ploy to appease voters. But with the polls firmly behind us and the government of national unity (GNU) in place led by President Cyril Ramaphosa and the African National Congress, the excellent progress being made by Eskom sets us on a path to close the painful chapter of loadshedding.

On Sunday Eskom announced that Kusile power station's unit 5 was put into operation and was supplying an extra 800MW to the national grind. The power utility said unit 5 had undergone a series of tests in the last six months, during which it had met performance targets while intermittently generating power, supporting the grid and alleviating loadshedding.

According to Eskom CEO, Dan Marokane, 800MW is a fraction of the total 2 500MW that will have been added to the grid by end of this year. This follows recent progress over the past year in bringing other units of Kusile and Medupi back on grid as well as ramping up maintenance programmes.

Last week the power utility announced plans to procure 101 transformers in the next four years and a total 170 by 2032, adding cumulative generation capacity of 53GW to the grid. Eskom's ambitious plans to invest in transmission and generation capacity will further cement this progress.

Given Eskom's crucial role in powering the economy, the current initiatives bode well and set the stage for the GNU to unlock and grow the economy, create decent permanent jobs, and declare war on poverty and inequality.

Issued by COSATU