Eskom Suspends Managers It Blames For Plant Breakdowns

Eskom has suspended the managers of two power stations it blames for exacerbating breakdowns leading to widespread power outages, it said on Friday.

Eskom generates the majority of South Africa’s power, but for years has struggled to manage supply from ageing coal-fired power plants and has imposed intermittent blackouts.

After about four months of steady supply it imposed power outages in July for about a week.

Blackouts returned in August, worsening on Wednesday this week as the firm ramped up cuts from Stage 2 to Stage 4, which requires up to 4 000 megawatts (MW) to be shed from the grid.

On Thursday it downgraded the outages to Stage 3.

Eskom blamed breakdowns at its power stations.

In a statement it said it had suspended the managers of the Tutuka and Kendal power stations pending disciplinary inquiries.

Further interventions are ongoing at the Kriel and Duvha power stations, the firm said.