WATCH: Minister confirms end of load shedding ‘in March’, with “in reach”

Extreme changes in load shedding are allegedly expected to begin in March says the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.

Speaking during Tuesday’s State of the Nation Address (SONA) debate at Cape Town City Hall, the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said the end of load shedding will start in March, Kaya FM reported.

LOAD SHEDDING: MINISTER OF ELECTRICITY TO ‘BEGIN REDUCING PLANNED MAINTENANCE’

According to the publication, the Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is said to have insisted that load shedding will soon no longer be an issue for South Africans despite “obstacles, uncertainties, and temporary setbacks.”

“From March of 2024, we will begin reducing planned maintenance from the current 6 000MW to 5 000MW in April 2024 and to around 3 500MW in May 2024, a threshold that will be sustained during the winter demand period,” Ramokgopa was quoted as saying.

The crisis of load shedding is “finally within reach”, the South African Government website assured. The government is said to be implementing plans to urgently address the energy crisis.

President Cyril Ramaphosa also delivered the State of the Nation Address at the Cape Town City Hall, on Thursday, 8 February, and he was quoted as saying: “We have delivered on our commitments to bring substantial new power through private investment onto the grid, which is already helping to reduce load shedding.”

“Since we revived our renewable energy programme five years ago, we have connected more than 2500 MW of solar and wind power to the grid with three times this amount already in procurement or construction,” the President was reported as saying.

South African citizens on social media have since expressed their opinions on the matter.

TAKE A LOOK AT SOME REACTIONS FROM SOUTH AFRICAN ON SOCIAL MEDIA BELOW…

“If this happens it will last only till elections are over,” @CeliStewart said.

“The goalposts keep on changing. In March he will say by the end of June😓,” @na_sibanibani reacted.

“Trust them to strategies for votes after elections back to square one,” @Seipatisone wrote.

“Respectfully, I need him to shut up. Say nothing and just do the work then We’ll believe it when we see it,” @FentseM commented.

The Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa says the end of loadshedding will start in March. https://t.co/Y31qq82Bqf

— Kaya ON 959 (@KayaON959) February 15, 2024