‘There’s no magic wand’ – Pravin Gordhan on the Eskom crisis

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan is hitting back at those pointing fingers at him and Eskom’s leadership for the seemingly endless bouts of load shedding – and boy does he have a lot to day!

If what energy experts have said is anything to go by, the power utility is in a state of disarray and the situation is only getting worse. South Africans have had to put up with rolling blackouts for the past few weeks, including this week, during which stage 2 load shedding is being implemented between 17:00 and 22:00.

Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has been at the forefront of the current power crisis, holding media briefings and assuring citizens that plans are afoot to make load shedding a thing of the past. As for Gordhan, he hasn’t been as visible, something which some may take issue with given the fact that he presides over some of the country’s biggest state-owned entities. But Gordhan insists he is in fact in the thick of things, as far as fixing Eskom is concerned.

GORDHAN, ESKOM ‘FULLY ACCOUNTABLE’ ON LOAD SHEDDING

Speaking to eNCA, the public enterprises minister admits turning things around at Eskom, including ending load shedding, won’t happen overnight, or magically for that matter.

“Right now we have a piece of work and the department and myself have been fully accountable in this particular regard. There is no magic wand that is available to anyone in South Africa. You can replace me, you can replace the CEO, you can replace the board… but that isn’t going to give us immediate answers”

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan

Gordhan says they need to get things right on an operational level at the power utility and that it is the supply of additional megawatts that will help improve the current electricity crisis.