Eskom
By Mpho Moloi
Eskom downgrades load shedding to Stage 2, bringing much-needed relief to South Africans after a turbulent weekend of Stage 6 power cuts. On Monday, 24 February 2025, the utility announced that Stage 4 load shedding will continue until 5:00 AM on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, before dropping to Stage 2 until further notice. This decision follows the successful recovery of eight out of ten generation units that tripped over the weekend at Majuba, Camden, and Medupi power stations, restoring 3,808 MW to the grid, with an additional 1,146 MW expected to be recovered overnight. While emergency reserves are improving, further replenishment is needed, and Eskom remains committed to stabilising the power supply. After months of reliable electricity, this weekend’s setback shocked many, but Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa insists it’s a “technical issue,” not sabotage, with better days ahead by week’s end.
Introduction: A Brighter Outlook After a Dark Weekend
South Africans can breathe a sigh of relief as Eskom scales back load shedding to Stage 2, marking significant progress in restoring the country’s power grid. The downgrade, announced on Monday, 24 February 2025, follows a chaotic weekend when Stage 6 load shedding – the highest level – plunged homes and businesses into darkness for the first time in months. The crisis began on Saturday, 22 February 2025, with multiple unit failures at Majuba, Camden, and Medupi power stations, forcing Eskom to drain its emergency reserves. By Sunday, Minister Ramokgopa addressed the nation, calling it a “technical issue” and ruling out sabotage, while CEO Dan Marokane and board chair Mteto Nyati promised swift action. With eight units now back online and more recovery expected, Eskom’s focus on grid stability offers hope. But after such a setback, many wonder: can the lights stay on for good?
This article explores Eskom’s rapid response, the root causes of the weekend’s outages, and what the future holds for South Africa’s electricity supply. From technical breakdowns to public reactions on social media, we’ll unpack the story behind this crisis and Eskom’s bold promise of a load shedding-free future.
What Happened? A Weekend of Power Woes
The trouble started on Saturday, 22 February 2025, when Eskom lost 3,000 megawatts “at a go,” as Minister Ramokgopa described during a Sunday briefing in Pretoria. At Majuba Power Station in Mpumalanga, an overloaded transformer caused five units to trip, sending the grid into chaos. By evening, Eskom implemented Stage 3 load shedding to stabilise the system and protect reserves. But the situation worsened in the early hours of Sunday, 23 February 2025, when Camden Power Station in Mpumalanga lost four units due to a hydraulic valve failure. A separate unit at Medupi Power Station in Limpopo failed due to “under frequency with the network,” as Marokane explained, pushing load shedding to Stage 6 by 1:30 am. “We had to run the reserves much harder,” Marokane said, noting the move was critical to avoid a total blackout as the workweek approached. By Sunday morning, 11,370 MW was offline – 7,245 MW from planned maintenance and 3,864 MW from the tripped units.
Social media lit up with reactions. Posts found on X reflected frustration and concern, with users like @HeidiGiokos reporting, “Stage 6 loadshedding has been implemented since 1:30am. Multiple units have tripped at Camden Power Station. Unit trips at Majuba Power Station and a unit trip at Medupi that resulted in a loss of 3,864 MW in generation capacity.” Meanwhile, @mybroadband noted, “Stage 6 load-shedding is back. Eskom explained the power cuts were necessary due to multiple unit trips at the Camden, Majuba, and Medupi power stations.” The public mood swung between anger over disrupted lives and cautious hope as Eskom promised recovery, with some X posts suggesting this could signal a return to frequent blackouts after 10 months of stability.
No Foul Play, Just Tech Troubles
As Stage 6 hit, rumours of sabotage spread on social platforms and in public discussions. Minister Ramokgopa quickly dismissed these claims on Sunday, stating, “There is no sabotage based on what is before us, we can explain what went wrong and it is something that we are addressing.” He urged South Africans not to buy into conspiracy theories, emphasising that Eskom’s engineers had identified the issues: an overloaded transformer at Majuba, a frequency glitch at Medupi, and a faulty hydraulic valve at Camden. CEO Marokane reinforced this, saying, “We do understand how it happened,” and ruled out any malicious intent. Posts found on X, like @rhulani1baloyi’s, captured the sentiment: “Minister #Ramokgopa says they’ve ruled out sabotage but they take full responsibility and accountability for the #stage6 #loadshedding.”
Ramokgopa’s explanation aligns with his past statements, such as those in September 2023 to News24, where he attributed Stage 6 outages to “technical woes” and stressed there were “no shortcuts to ending load shedding.” However, the establishment narrative of “just technical issues” warrants scrutiny. Could ageing infrastructure, maintenance delays, or funding constraints be amplifying these failures? While Eskom’s transparency is a step forward, some posts found on X and articles on IOL and News24 suggest public skepticism persists, with calls for deeper accountability.
Eskom Fights Back: Units Return to Service
Eskom’s response has been swift and decisive. By Monday morning, 24 February 2025, eight of the ten tripped units were back online – all five at Majuba, two at Camden, and one at Medupi. In its #PowerAlert1 update, Eskom stated, “This decision follows the successful recovery of eight out of ten generation units and the restoration of 3,808 MW from units that tripped over the weekend, with an additional 1,146 MW expected to be recovered overnight.” Emergency reserves are also being replenished, though further work is needed to reach sufficient levels.
Marokane shared progress on Sunday, noting, “Both Majuba and Camden have done very well… up to the point the incidents happened.” He aims to restore the remaining two units by Tuesday, 25 February 2025, while Ramokgopa predicted, “By the end of the week, we should be out of this difficult situation.” Eskom’s head of generation, Bheki Nxumalo, explained that at Majuba, “unit 1 supplied itself and other auxiliaries at the station.” When it tripped, cooling pumps failed, triggering a chain reaction. “With the incident, there was a loss of cooling pumps, then other units tripped due to a lack of air.” The fix involved rapid repairs and a focus on grid stability.
On Monday, Eskom confirmed that Stage 4 load shedding would continue until 5:00 AM on Tuesday, then drop to Stage 2 until further notice. “These positive developments support our ongoing focused efforts to stabilise the power supply and ensure reliability,” the utility said. However, challenges remain, with unplanned outages at 13,690 MW – 690 MW above the summer outlook base case of 13,000 MW – and planned maintenance at 7,245 MW, higher to prepare for winter and meet regulatory requirements. The next update is due on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, or earlier if significant changes occur.
Posts found on X, such as those from @AfricaPulseNews and @KittyOwner_Club, reflect optimism about the 3,200 MW recovery and plans for full restoration, while others, like @AfricanInsider2, note the downgrade to Stage 4 as a positive step. Articles on IOL and TechCentral corroborate this, reporting Eskom’s progress in restoring units and replenishing reserves, though some warn of ongoing risks due to maintenance and unit reliability.
Maintenance: The Double-Edged Sword
Why did this happen after 10 months of uninterrupted power from March 2024 to January 2025? Eskom’s “aggressive maintenance” strategy is the key. Ramokgopa explained on Sunday, “We are guided by the generation recovery plan, which places front-centre investments on the installed fleet, ensuring we have these machines reliable.” This involves taking more units offline – currently 7,245 MW, up from last year – to prepare for winter, meet licence obligations, and address environmental concerns, like Kusile’s stack upgrades.
“Our planned maintenance is sitting at 7,245 MW, which is significantly higher than the same period last year,” Ramokgopa said. “We have accepted that there are inherent risks in this decision that we have taken.” The goal is long-term grid stability, but the risk is short-term outages when failures occur. “When they fail, the failure might be catastrophic and require us to make even significantly greater decisions to protect the grid,” he warned.
This strategy echoes past moves. In February 2024, Ramokgopa told IOL that Stage 6 outages were tied to maintenance, predicting they’d “ease down by Wednesday.” They did, leading to South Africa’s longest power stability period. “This is what I call short-term pain, long-term gain,” he said on Sunday. “We cannot postpone the maintenance of these assets.” However, posts found on X and articles on News24 and Moneyweb suggest public frustration with the trade-off, with some questioning whether Eskom’s maintenance plan is too aggressive or if deeper issues – like ageing plants or funding – are at play. The establishment narrative of progress through maintenance is compelling, but critics call for more transparency on risks.
A Golden Run Cut Short
The return of load shedding feels bitter after South Africa’s 10-month power stability streak, a milestone Mteto Nyati called “not a miracle, but a product of the work we were doing.” On Sunday, he credited strong leadership under Nxumalo, a “back to basics” approach, and discipline across Eskom. “We were confident it was something we can overcome,” Nyati said. “We are dealing with people, and with machines, and they are within our control.”
But the weekend proved even the best plans can falter. Ramokgopa admitted, “This is why I have not been able to make that absolute statement [that load shedding is over].” Last month’s brief outages, quickly resolved, were labelled a “temporary setback” by Marokane. Now, he’s reiterating that message, betting on Eskom’s upgrades to end blackouts permanently. “We continue to be on the right path in ensuring that we eradicate load shedding,” Ramokgopa said. “We apologise for this setback and its intensity because we have not experienced this in a long time.”
Posts found on X and articles on Bloomberg and Reuters show a public divided between hope for Eskom’s progress and skepticism about recurring outages. The establishment narrative of steady improvement is strong, but some critics, including political parties like the DA and EFF (as noted on IOL), argue that reliance on Eskom alone is unsustainable, pointing to calls for renewable energy and private sector involvement. South Africans, weary but hopeful, are watching closely.
Looking Ahead: Stability on the Horizon
Ramokgopa concluded Sunday’s briefing with a bold promise: “I am confident we are going to have another run [of no load shedding]… watch this space.” But the coming days will test that confidence. Koeberg Unit 1, offline for a 150-day outage, and a Kusile unit pulled on Saturday for stack upgrades, keep over 2,400 MW out of action. “We said we are not going to do shortcuts in our obligations to the environment,” Ramokgopa said, referencing Kusile’s air quality commitments. While noble, this adds pressure to the grid.
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