This comes as the country continues to be plunged into darkness due to rolling blackouts by the power utility, Eskom.
The president had to cut short his international trip last week after the country was put under stage six load shedding.
Ramaphosa was speaking in Soweto on Monday afternoon.
“We’ve been working in the recent period that Eskom must be fixed, and then there was a loss of a number of units. Up to 50% of the capacity of Eskom just broke down. And that is now being restored and we are hoping that load shedding izakwehla [it will reduce] and I want to thank you for your patience.”
In his letter to the nation, Ramaphosa has conceded that government will not eliminate the current massive rolling blackouts in the short term.
He however says government’s goal is to reduce the frequency and severity of the blackouts in the immediate term.
Ramaphosa says there is an end in sight to the electricity crisis as government is making progress in the implementation of additional measures that he announced in July this year.
He says he’s aware that the effects may not be immediately felt.
Ramaphosa says Eskom is urgently implementing measures to improve plant performance until new generation power projects are brought online.
He says the power utility is working with Transnet to ensure the consistency of coal supply from collieries to stations, is addressing the poor quality of coal and ensuring people with experience in running power stations are being brought back to help with plant operation, management and mentorship.
Ramaphosa adds that it is also on procuring emergency power from companies with existing generation capacity and working to secure imports from neighbouring countries.
As we work with greater urgency to fix the immediate problem of an unreliable power system, we are also busy laying the groundwork for a sustainable, lasting solution to the country’s electricity woes.https://t.co/ILcDTuzKrs pic.twitter.com/xKaQU7qElE
— Cyril Ramaphosa 🇿🇦 (@CyrilRamaphosa) September 26, 2022
