Electricity Minister Says Load Shedding Might Ease As South Africa Gets Energy Equipment From China

South Africans can expect decreased load shedding over the weekend as the country receives the first consignment of energy equipment from China, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said.

The announcement was made on Thursday when South Africa received its first consignment of energy equipment, donated by China, SA News reported.

"We have been able to return the units much earlier; Kusile [power station] Unit 2 – in the midst of Stage 6 [load shedding] has come back to give us an additional 800MW [Megawatt]," Ramokgopa said.

"So once we stabilize the emergency reserves, I'm more than confident that going into the weekend, you'll start seeing that the intensity of load shedding is going to go down," he added.

The minister noted that the energy equipment will help South Africa to "preserve life," as it included at least 450 gasoline generators, which will be used in health facilities, courts and schools, among others.

"The Chinese were very enthusiastic and demonstrated levels of solidarity and comradery...that we have enjoyed over a period of time to say that as you resolve the bigger question of ending load shedding, you need some alternative supply or some solution to ensure that there is uninterrupted supply," he said.

Ramokgopa took to social media to share a series of photos of the consignment on the same day.

"The generators will be used as backup to alleviate the impacts of load shedding in the delivery of services in clinics, schools and courts whilst government continues to implement the EAP to ultimately end load shedding and create sustainable energy security," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In a separate post, he disclosed that South Africa can expect the second consignment in the next few weeks, consisting of 150kw diesel generators, power vehicle generators and off-grid photovoltaic energy storage power supply systems.

In August, President Cyril Ramaphosa praised his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping for supporting the country amid the ongoing energy crisis by donating emergency power equipment worth R167 million and awarding a grant of approximately R500 million as development assistance.

In the same month, Ramokgopa disclosed that South Africa signed energy deals with China during the 15th BRICS summit to provide emergency energy solutions to the African country.

South Africa and China are both members of the BRICS group, which also includes Brazil, Russia and India.