SA’s electricity crisis | Ramaphosa blames historical issues at Eskom

JOHANNESBURG - President Cyril Ramaphosa is blaming historical issues at Eskom for the country's current electricity crisis.

He said this during a media briefing after concluding his state visit to the UK.

Ramaphosa says it will take more than just the right skills to turn things around at the embattled power utility.

READ: Nightly power cuts reduced to stage 3

''There was a time when Eskom management wanted to build new power stations, and they were told no, private sector will do that. You just keep the lights on.

"At that time, maintenance was stopped for 12 years, power stations were driven hard and instruction was to keep the lights on," he said.

"Eskom's problems did not start even in 2014, but earlier. We're dealing with huge machinery and need more skills."

READ: Diesel urgently needed to keep the lights on

Meanwhile, nightly power cuts will be reduced from Stage 4 to Stage 3.

Stage 2 will continue during the daytime until further notice.

Eskom says the continued power cuts are mainly due to the high level of breakdowns and the limited emergency generation reserves.