Durban - In our top story, Load-shedding was reduced to stage 4 at 5am on Thursday and will continue until 5am on Sunday morning, after which stage 3 load-shedding will be implemented, says Eskom.
The power utility said since Tuesday a generating unit each at Camden, Kriel, Majuba, Matla and Duvha power stations were taken offline for repairs and planned maintenance.
In addition, the delay in returning to service a generating unit each at Arnot, Duvha and Hendrina power stations contributed to the capacity constraints.
However, a generating unit each at Grootvlei, Camden, Kriel and Majuba power stations returned to service.
Eskom said on Thursday night, it had 6,618 MW on planned maintenance while another 15,996MW was unavailable due to breakdowns.
Former Eskom acting chief executive Matshela Koko said now that Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has resigned, the power utility will be able to stop load shedding in the next six to 12 months.
Koko said said De Ruyter’s resignation signals a new beginning for Eskom.
Koko also reminded his followers that in March, he mentioned that diesel generators will power the 55th National Conference of the ANC.
True to form, it appears the ANC’s elective conference will start on Friday while the rest of the country battles Stage 5 load shedding power cuts, which equate to about 10 hours without power daily.
This year the country recorded over 150 days of rolling blackouts.
It’s the worst year for load shedding yet.
The former head of Statistics South Africa Dr Pali Lehohla had also said De Ruyter should be replaced by an engineer.
In the sports world, Morocco coach Walid Regragui had only praise for his team's efforts after their fairytale run at the World Cup ended in a 2-0 semi-final defeat to France on Wednesday.
Theo Hernandez put France ahead in the fifth minute of the match and Regragui said that early blow had a huge impact on the match.
Theo Hernandez put France ahead in the fifth minute of the match and Regragui said that early blow had a huge impact on the match.
Fellow defender and captain Romain Saiss, who had been a doubt, started but had to go off in the 21st minute.
Read more.
You know we love to end with a feel good story.
The Artisans of Mzansi is a competition powered by Allan Gray Makers that shines a spotlight on African Artisan Makers in order to encourage more young people to join the technical and vocational trades in an effort to create meaningful employment opportunities in their communities.
Walking away with a whopping R200 000 is Thamsanqa Myeza from Imbewenhle Airconditioning and Refrigeration who won the Mature Phase Category.
The Innovation Phase was won by Mokete Ratlabala from Learn Base (PTY) LTD who received R100 000 for his business.
Bontle Mmpela from Black Beard Group was the leading lady in the Growth Phase Category, also walking away with R100 000.
For her brilliant idea, Rosemary Dube from Mota Yedu won R50 000 in the StartUp Phase Category.
Among the esteemed guests and keynote speakers, were SME Program Architect Octavius Phukubya who congratulated Allan Gray Makers on a campaign that identifies the underrated yet most crucial trades in the country.
“Without artisans, we cannot thrive as a country. So, it is so fitting that it is Artisans of Mzansi that we are celebrating today.”
The aim of the campaign is to grow and accelerate meaningful employment creation through responsible, technical and vocational entrepreneurship in South Africa.
The country needs to significantly improve its technical and vocational education and training (TVET) ecosystem to produce the skills required to develop the economy and Allan Gray Makers, continues to spearhead meaningful relationships with TVET Colleges around the country.
Read more.