Eskom will not switch us off - PHK

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Contrary to recent press reports, the Government of South Africa will not disconnect power supplies to Botswana, says Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe. The minister was briefing Parliament on the status of power supply in Botswana yesterday.

In his 22-page statement, Kedikilwe said the South African government is committed to honouring its power commercial contracts with all the neighbouring countries that have Power Purchase Agreements with Eskom.

The minister said the spare generation capacity in Eskom was caused by unforeseen plant outages; problems with coal deliveries to the power stations; higher-than-expected economic growth; and inclement weather. "All these meant that on that fatal day (24th January 2008), the total load loss was a very significant proportion of the generation capacity. This caused a lot of disruptions and the only option was load shedding otherwise it would have resulted in total system collapse," the minister stated. He said that Botswana Power Corporation (BCP) imports power from South Africa because it was believed that electricity tariffs and electricity connection charges are very high in Botswana. "The business community, led by BOCCIM in particular, and supported by BEDIA and people's representatives, were at the forefront of this campaign calling on Government as well as the BCP to find more affordable means of reducing electricity tariffs and connection charges, as tariffs here, at home, were and still are, comparatively higher than those in our neighbouring states, and were said to be scaring away investment," he stated.

Editor's Comment
UDC's 100 Days: Please deliver your promises!

We duly congratulate them to have ousted the long ruling Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) from power. Prior to taking power from the BDP, the coalition had made several election promises that are credited for influencing change and swaying the people to vote in its favour.The party had made an undertaking, which its leader and President Duma Boko consistently bellowed in his campaign trail. These undertakings were promises that Batswana would be...

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