Daily Podcast – May 23, 2023

23rd May 2023 By: Thabi Shomolekae - Creamer Media Senior Writer

Daily Podcast – May 23, 2023

Photo by: Reuters

For Creamer Media in Johannesburg, I’m Thabi Madiba.

Making headlines: Eskom to implement Stage 5 loadshedding from 4pm; Health experts raise concerns about ongoing cholera outbreak in southern Africa; And, DA demands urgent parliamentary debate on possible grid collapse

 

Eskom to implement Stage 5 loadshedding from 4pm

Power utility Eskom has announced that it will implement Stage 5 loadshedding in the evenings until further notice.

Stage 5 loadshedding will be implemented from 16:00 until 05:00 and Stage 4 loadshedding from 05:00 to 16:00 every day.

It says that, over the past 24 hours, a generating unit each were returned to service at the Duvha, Kriel, Majuba, Medupi and Tutuka power stations.

However, a generation unit at each of the Arnot, Camden and Tutuka power stations, and two generating units at the Kriel power station were taken out of service owing to breakdowns.

 

Health experts raise concerns about ongoing cholera outbreak in southern Africa

Health experts have raised concerns about the ongoing cholera outbreak in southern Africa, saying there's a high possibility of a continued importation of cases.

This was revealed during a cholera outbreak webinar organised by the Department of Health.

The department announced on Monday that 15 people in Hammanskraal, outside Pretoria, died of cholera. Others are in hospital.

Chief director of environmental and port health services Aneliswa Cele said cholera had become a global concern.  

Cholera cases are still being reported in at least 24 countries globally. South Africa is among the 15 African countries that have experienced a cholera outbreak.

She said more than 1.1-billion people were at risk and that children under the age of five were particularly vulnerable.

 

And, DA demands urgent parliamentary debate on possible grid collapse

Democratic Alliance has submitted a request to the National Assembly speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for a debate on a possible energy grid collapse.  

The DA said South Africans needed answers on contingency measures that government had in place to address an impending disaster.

The party warned that if there was no plan in place, the impact of the loadshedding crisis could be catastrophic.

The DA said mixed messages from government about the possibility of a grid collapse amid ongoing loadshedding were doing little to allay the fears of ordinary South Africans.

Minister of Electricity Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, who was appointed to tackle the energy crisis, has predicted ongoing outages at Stage 6, possibly reaching Stage 8, which translates into 16 hours of loadshedding per 36-hour cycle.

 

That’s a roundup of news making headlines today

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter [@PolityZA]