Eskom repaired the Zola sub-station in Soweto, which caught fire earlier in June, resulting in power outages affecting several areas. Photo: Supplied Joburg EMS
While Eskom and its staff have received many plaudits for the continuing absence of load shedding, the business sector partnership with the government also helped to keep the lights on.
Business for South Africa (B4SA), an organisation representing organised business, has formed partnership structures with relevant government structures and agencies to address key priorities affecting the economy: energy, transport and logistics, and crime and corruption.
On the energy front, the work is being directed through the government-led National Energy Crisis Committee (NECOM), and in the logistics sector through the National Logistics Crisis Committee (NLCC), and also through the Joint Initiative to Fight Crime and Corruption (JICC)
B4SA provided some key insights into its progress on the energy front so far on its website, saying organised business had invested 9 000 hours of engagement with Eskom, and had invested R250 million into the partnership.
Fifty-seven companies had contributed to interventions at power stations, while 350 private-sector experts had been mobilised across all the initiatives at Eskom. B4SA could not be reached for further comment yesterday afternoon.
The organisation said there had been no load shedding this year and over 2.6GW of capacity had been recovered from the energy initiatives.
The three sector committees are part of the governance structure of the business and government partnership, and other governance principles include that the key stakeholders report back to President Cyril Ramaphosa every six to eight weeks, while the business and government initiatives were guided by a joint strategic oversight committee.
Progress on the logistics front to March 31, with much work still to be done, included reducing the waiting time of container vessels outside the ports by 36%, while there were 45% less vessels anchored outside Durban waiting to dock.
Ramaphosa said days ago: “Since the start of the partnership just over a year ago, we have made substantial progress towards stabilising the energy sector, improving the performance of our rail and port system, and strengthening the fight against crime and corruption.”
Ramaphosa said multiple challenges remained in the energy space, including rapidly rising electricity costs, unsustainable municipal utilities, complex market reform, a constrained grid with delayed expansion, and stalling investment in new generation.
He said significant investment would be required for energy sector reform over the next five to 10 years
“Business, Eskom and the Presidency have agreed that the priorities of the National Energy Crisis Committee should include a focus on transmission, market reform, municipal utilities and new energy generation,” he said.
BUSINESS REPORT