Eskom: A year of crisis

Cabinet has asked for incoming Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter to start work as soon as possible following close to two weeks of severe load shedding by the beleaguered power utility. 

But Eskom’s problems did not start two weeks ago. It has spent the past 12 months struggling to prevent load shedding using ageing and ill-maintained power plants. 

To its credit, the utility has managed to ensure that there has been power for 340 days so far this year. However, the lows and what seems like a lack of progress in Eskom’s efficiency despite countless plans and government bailouts have eclipsed this. 

We look back at the year that was.