Feb 3 South African power utility Eskom does not expect to implement electricity cuts until at least August, its chief executive said on Wednesday, a relief for an economy on a tentative growth trajectory.
Eskom, which provides virtually all of South Africa’s electricity, is scrambling to keep the power on in millions of homes and businesses.
In the first half of last year, the utility was forced to impose almost daily power cuts that hurt economic growth but has managed to both carry out maintenance at its aging coal-fired power plants and keep the lights on for nearly six months.
“Eskom has stabilised and we don’t anticipate load shedding for the rest of summer and winter,” Brian Molefe told a news conference. The southern hemisphere summer ends in March while its winter ends in August.
The utility had said in November that it does not expect to implement electricity blackouts until April 2016.
Power shortages were cited as among key constraints to Africa’s most industrialised economy, which the World Bank expects to grow by less than a percent in 2015.
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