South Africans have been left confused by the status of load shedding after a briefing from the Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, yesterday. The rumour mills ran wild with claims that Eskom would be implementing even higher stages of load shedding – namely Stage 5 and 6 – but these have proven to be unfounded.
On Tuesday, March 19, News24 reported that senior South African Police Services (SAPS) sources had confirmed that an investigation was taking place to determine whether the current blackouts are deliberately being caused by Eskom employees.
Additional government sources, who also spoke to News24, confirmed there are concerns that Eskom employees are a part of a concerted effort to resist efforts to restructure the power utility into three separate entities.
The same sources also claimed that former Eskom executives Brian Molefe and Matshela Koko moved managers loyal to them into senior positions at the public enterprise’s Megawatt Park headquarters.
Gordhan informed the media on Tuesday there were suspicions of sabotage during instances of load shedding last year, but evidence to support this has not been found in 2019.
The country at large has been subjected to various stages of load shedding since the later months of 2018, and the current schedule switches between Stage 2 and 4.
READ: Stage 4 load shedding leaves city in darkness
Picture: Pixabay