September 14, 2022

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Sane Dhlamini.

Making headlines:

South Africa suffers 100th day of power blackouts this year

Eskom says bulk supply restored to disaster-stricken Jagersfontein

And, SABC in hot pursuit of misspent funds

South Africa suffers 100th day of power blackouts this year

South Africa’s State-owned power utility has implemented power cuts for 100 days in 2022, with more to come.

Eskom ramped up outages to so-called Stage 4 load-shedding, where it removed 4 000 megawatts from the grid, on Tuesday after three generation units at its Kendal coal-fired station about 100 km east of Johannesburg tripped.

The utility expects to reduce this to 2 000 megawatts from Thursday until the end of the week. That will bring the total days of outages in the third quarter to 40, Bloomberg calculations show.

Eskom is struggling to meet electricity demand because its old and poorly maintained power stations continually break down.

Eskom says bulk supply restored to disaster-stricken Jagersfontein

Meanwhile, Eskom says bulk electricity supply to Jagersfontein, in the Free State, was restored at 04:25am on September 14.

Eskom delivers electricity in bulk to Centlec, which then distributes it to Jagersfontein and Charlesville. A tailings dam burst on Sunday, damaging homes and infrastructure in the area.

Eskom technicians worked around the clock to install and energise a replacement transformer at Badplaas substation, in Jagersfontein, after Rietkuil substation was destroyed, when mud burst through a broken wall of a nearby mining dam, flooding the area.

SABC in hot pursuit of misspent funds

SABC board member and anti-apartheid activist Saths Cooper said the State broadcaster has not just brought proper leadership back to public broadcaster, it is also actively pursuing former executives to hold them accountable for previous misspending and mismanagement.

Cooper was speaking to MPs during the subcommittee on communications' interviews for candidates for a new SABC board.

Cooper is one of five candidates who are members of the current SABC board.

The SABC has come under the microscope in recent years due to significant problems around mismanagement and financial issues.

Cooper said the broadcaster was still going after former chief operating officer Hlaudi Motsoeneng to recover funds from irregular appointments and irregular wage hikes.

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

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