The Eskom woes continue

[View in browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( M&G Mornings | Wed 10 May   [ozayr_patel_hello-1] Fail after fail, that’s how I see Eskom. The power utility this week plunged the country into stage six load-shedding because of the failure of additional units and other units not returning to power after they broke down. In some cases that led to a whopping eight to 12 hours of no power. There are also reports of people having extended power cuts because the units take time to come back online after load-shedding has been implemented. The utility was battling to keep its head above water on Monday. Parts of the country experienced really wet weather. This added to the misery people are facing. Eskom said it was receiving more than normal calls of electricity not being restored or breakdowns. The utility also said it was dealing with theft and vandalism. On social media, people said their times without electricity were longer than the allotted load-shedding periods. The town of Mahikeng in the North West has been without power for 11 days after a substation exploded. The blast occurred because the infrastructure is old, and because of theft and vandalism. This has hit businesses. There are also reports that crime soared in parts of Mahikeng. Despite these problems, Eskom gave 347 megawatts to Botswana, which was dealing with a country-wide blackout that struck at midnight on Monday because of a “grid disturbance”. That’s not enough to prevent one stage of load-shedding (1 000 megawatts a stage) but still, the thought of giving another country power is really hard to swallow. We also have the utility and the government in court battling to overturn a decision to ensure that places like hospitals are exempt from load-shedding. The utility says the cuts are necessary for the grid to remain stable. Let’s just stop for one second and think about what that means. Failure! Please sign up to the Green Guardian [environmental newsletter](. You’ll find an array of climate and environment news as well as a weekly quiz. Ozayr Patel | Climate & Environment Editor [@Ozayr8]( [AndreDeRuyter2]( Premium [De Ruyter: I told the police more than I said in TV interview]( The former Eskom chief executive said he relayed all privately-gathered intelligence to the police and Minister Pravin Gordhan, and so did not breach his reporting duty This article is only available to subscribers. [View subscription options]( If you are already a subscriber, login here. [// Read more]( Articles labelled as Premium are only available to subscribers. [CLICK HERE]( to subscribe Already a subscriber? [SIGN IN HERE]( [Joburg podcast]( [This is Jo’burg Season 1 Episode 1]( In the first episode of “This is Jo’burg”, the poet, educator, mother, memoirist, activist, Nelson Mandela’s former chief of staff and ambassador to the US and France, Barbara Masekela goes on a road-trip with Leonard of her beloved Johannesburg. She tells the stories, recounts the memories and expresses hopes for her city [// Read more]( [Nampak Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter Interview]( [Hawks head says De Ruyter is a ‘suspect’ for not reporting alleged Eskom graft]( The Hawks and SIU suggested to Scopa that the former Eskom chief lied about reporting fraud and corruption [// Read more]( Recommended Reads [Pressure on Sunak is building after the UK local elections]( The Tories are comforting themselves for their loss by arguing that historically every government during the mid-term suffers losses in local elections [// Read more]( [MEC expelled after pretending to be voting delegate at North West conference]( The province’s ANC has expelled eight of its members, including five municipal councillors who voted for an EFF member as Speaker [// Read more]( [De Lille addresses SA Tourism shake-up: ‘Nobody’s indispensable’]( The minister was speaking at Africa’s Travel Indaba, days after the acting chief executive of the country’s official national marketing agency resigned [// Read more]( [South Africa needs a ‘Post Office of Tomorrow’]( To become profitable, the state-owned entity requires an expanded mandate that allows it to venture into e-commerce services [// Read more]( [Anti-HIV injection to be made in SA]( CAB-LA will be made at Indian drug company Cipla’s Benoni and Durban plants, but a starting date for production has not yet been announced [// Read more]( Pic of the day [Harz Mountains] A dandelion stands in a meadow at sunrise in the early morning in the northern Harz Mountains. With many sunny spells, it remains largely dry. Photo: Matthias Bein/dpa [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} [why did I get this?]( [unsubscribe from this list]( [update subscription preferences]( Mail & Guardian Media LTD · 25 Owl St · Braamfontein · Johannesburg, Gauteng 2001 · South Africa