Statement on the visit by the Political Task Team led by Deputy President David Mabuza to Eskom's Kusile Power Station, Mpumalanga
Deputy President David Mabuza in his capacity as Chairperson of the Political Task Team on Eskom today, Friday 14 May 2021, visited the Kusile Power Station in the Mpumalanga Province.
The visit was aimed at evaluating progress achieved on the construction and operations of the Kusile Power station.
The Political Task Team led by Deputy President Mabuza noted the increased output to 2, 400 megawatts that is now being generated by Kusile Power Station to support the national grid, thereby assisting in the reduction of the occurrence of load shedding. Upon completion by the end of 2023, the Kusile power station will provide 4, 800 megawatts of electricity to the grid.
“We are encouraged by the progress we have witnesses here at the Kusile Power Station. Kusile has now completed 3 units and they are now in a process of taking the forth unit to commercial operation by mid next year. This is significant, in the context of economic reconstruction and recovery to mitigate against the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent lockdowns on our economy,” said Deputy President Mabuza.
Deputy President Mabuza also welcomed the fact that the Power Station has integrated an environmentally friendly technology to mitigate against carbon emissions.
The Deputy President noted that construction activities at Kusile Power Station are winding down, with currently 5 100-construction workers on site. At the peak of building activities there were more than 15 000 construction workers on site.
On conclusion of his visit to Kusile, Deputy President Mabuza commended the leadership of Eskom on progress made in the construction and the correction in the design defects of the Power Station.
Deputy President Mabuza will convene the Eskom Political Task Team meeting in the coming week, to further discuss the critical challenge of debts owed by Municipalities to Eskom in particular the Maluti-a-Phofung.
Media enquiries:
Sam Bopape
Cell: 082 318 5251
