Black Business Council hopeful of Eskom’s recovery

Cape Town - The Black Business Council says it is hopeful that Eskom will turn the corner as public confidence is slowly being restored in the power utility’s board.

This follows after the power utility had recently continued to implement lower stages of power blackouts and a full day without rolling blackouts on Tuesday.

Eskom implemented stage 2 load shedding with effect from 5am on Wednesday morning. Stage 3 will kick in at 4pm on Wednesday.

Speaking to SABC News, Black Business Council CEO Kganki Matabane said it was critical to recognise even minor increases in generation capability.

“We need to celebrate small aspects so that we can encourage the Eskom employees to do better and to do more. When you don’t have good leadership at the end of the day, you are not going to resolve issues.

“Employees are not happy, management is not happy, everyone is not happy. You cannot have a performing organisation if you don’t have proper leadership. The board has done extremely well. We think we are on the right path,” Matabane told SABC News.

Meanwhile, the power utility said it has completed the removal of a 320-ton steam generator at its Koeberg Power Station’s Unit One in Cape Town as Eskom works to extend Koeberg’s lifespan by another 20 years.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokoena said that the Koeberg team will now move on to remove the remaining two steam generators to install three new ones.

Mokoena added that Unit One will remain out of service while work is being completed and Unit Two has continued to operate safely and will undergo its steam generator replacement later this year.

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