GPS clocks do not rely on 50Hz, but funny none the less 
Groetnis
Have someone posted this article?
Basically saying by 2025 the private sector will be generating more electricity than Eskom.
More fuel to the question / thought that has been in the back of my mind for months now. What’s going to happen the day when Eskom realizes, oh shoot, we lost over 50% of our biggest customers in mines and other industry, large retail groups etc. what now?
There will come a time when they no longer have money to maintain the coal plants, not because of all the theft and corruption, because there won’t be anyone left who wants to buy their electricity.
na de ruyter se boek is dit tjoepstil… fase ‘X’ is om die draai
tldr. USA timing of airing the Lady R laundry is strange. At least some in the USA might help South Africans weather the energy crisis through accessing gas to power from unknown sources. I have trust issues.
wall of text to follow:
The topic of Lady R is by now probably like flogging Bush Telegraph (1987 Durban July winner…).
Firstly, I truly hope no armament was sold/provided/loaned/gifted to Russia but unfortunately that is a distinct possibility. With that said, something that puzzles me around the initial statements by the US ambassador is what exactly do they want?
If the USA knows weapons left from South Africa destined for Russia, why do they need us to admit that? Will admitting it change the punishment? Is this like a parent who says, “I will not be angry if you tell me you broke the vase but I do not want you to lie to me” - or will it be like someone who is upset at their dog misbehaving who then calls the dog, the dog approaches cautiously, and then gets kicked?
As it seems we are unlikely to be able to provide a) stuff Russia can really use b) stuff in any quantity that will have much material impact on what happens in Ukraine, is it perhaps not so much about South Africa possibly providing armament to Russia but using South Africa as an example to others who might have similar thoughts (“if we are willing to punch the once a upon a time Cinderella in the gut, imagine what we will do to you, ugly step sister…”).
The US ambassador apparently voiced mostly three things that the USA took exception to as far as I could discern (no unedited video of the briefing is available) but some can be pieced together 1 2 3). South Africa’s apparent non-aligned stance (Lady R, South Africa’s non-commitment to arresting Putin, and BRICS), perceived hostility towards the USA by the ruling party and(?) the ANC 55th conference Resolution on international relations which does not acknowledge the investment/benefit from the USA while referring to the USA as main aggressor/influencer in Ukraine/Russia due to the Wolfowitz Doctrine.
The USA, every Capetonian with a cell phone, and therefore basically the whole world knew about Lady R since December 2022. Why the haste NOW to get a public confession? Did the USA only suspect something since December but then last week receive confirmation that someone recovered fragments in Ukraine stamped “made in South Africa”? The timing of the ambassador’s briefing following the return from the USA by the ambassador and SA government delegation, for me, points to the USA not getting what they wanted from that engagement - my money is on BRICS being the bigger issue (mumblings of challenging the dollar and all that).
Another interesting, though not wholly unrelated possibility, is that the very public statement by the ambassador may not have that much to do with South Africa/Ukraine/Russia specifically but is a reflection of USA internal politics - the current administration risking looking too soft?
In February 2023 a Republican senator introduced a bill generally reported on as “denouncing South Africa’s naval exercise with Russia and China”. The bill while referencing South Africa is critical of the Biden administration and actually primarily focussed on China being a problem - those forum members with Hikvision cameras and/or Huawei routers should note that some in the USA are concerned about your choice…
Whereas the increased Chinese presence in South Africa’s technology sector has raised concerns that the ANC may be trying to copy the PRC’s model of digitally aided authoritarian governance underpinned by cyber controls, social monitoring, and surveillance;
Whereas Vumacam, a South African company building a nationwide CCTV network, has partnered with Chinese company Hikvision for the cameras’ hardware, and Telkom, South Africa’s partially State-owned telecoms operator, launched its 5G network throughout the country in October 2022 using technology from Huawei Technologies
So, how do we get back to the thread topic from this walkabout? The bill in question consists of 36 paragraphs. South Africa’s electricity crisis is mentioned only once but the final demand from the bill is
a timeline to end the Biden administration’s climate colonialism by including gas-to-power initiatives to counter the widespread and nationwide blackouts costing the South African economy an estimated $200,000,000 per day. (emphasis my own)
Why does a bill taking aim at Biden and China, through South Africa end up with a demand about adding -“gas-to-power” to the South African grid? I do not know. Considering South Africa’s current infrastructure/capacity with regard to natural gas this will need major imports from outside of South Africa (at least the exchange rate will help /sarcasm). What other source can we possibly have? Now, THAT is a f(ra)cking good question, isn’t it?
Point? With the active (business)lobbying present in USA politics and the huge promise/opportunity presented to corporates both locally and internationally by the crisis which is Eskom, I question the motive of the ambassador’s briefing and remain somewhat suspicious of everyone.
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that is the ultimate contradiction which is eskom, currently trying to convince consumers to use less of what it has to sell.
What will be very interesting though is the impact of the long term contracts between eskom and the large industrial users - I doubt we will ever get to see that. It is probably possible that the big users can’t quickly (cheaply?) get out from their attachment to eskom. Another somewhat ironic possibility is that the industrial users end up financing their own power supply funded by eskom due to the terms related to Load Reduction.
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Apparently SASRIA circular 526 (grid failure exclusion) has been retracted… for now. Seems mostly industry concern around too short notice.
apologies to the forum software for making multiple posts in a row rather than making use of multiple quotes features or a long single post… 
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Not quite the “orderly shutdown” I hoped for, but a shutdown none-the-less.
Gents, and Ladies, When I started to consult to Eksdom way back in 2014, this unbundling was one of the projects I was involved in, EScam actually wanted to do it back then already. (DeRuyter ws late to that party.) My specific task was to build the IT infra to split up Distribution into the regions (roughly them provinces). Budget was spent and systems implemented, they run to this day. This unbundled the Distribution components management from the rest of them systems.
As a side note, some time later on another project, my team was nominated as the only team that rolled out projects within budget and time on 3 different projects (we were on time and about 17% under budget).
Politically, centralist control is the only thing that fits the ideology, hence this is going nowhere, at least from a legal point of view. The fact that it is slowly train wrecking may help to unofficially break up this mess anyhoo…
StukkendeGroetnis
So, Karpowerships approved with 20 year contracts, it appears…. The thievery is next level….
GesinkteGroetnis
R218 Billion randelas going out the country.
BewusteloseGroetnis
I think only half of that is actually leaving the country.
No idea about half. To be clear, the ships access to ports were give, me thinks the rest is just formality now.
RampokkerGroetnis
The ships may be Turkish, but the ZA company will be 50% owned by cadres.
I agree with you …
My guess is that the money will not stay in SA. The 50% bee ownership is just a ruse. There will be many charges from the HQ to the SA affiliate, and most of it will leave SA to be washed and sit in a bank account somwhere.
GeldGroetnis
This really is the part I don’t understand. 20 years, for a problem we can solve in half that time. Right? Or are we admitting we can’t?
It’s also possible that 20 years was simply the minimum term Karpowership was willing to go for. A take it or leave it setup.
Of course, whatever the good intentions (if any), I don’t think anyone trusts this long-term arrangement. It will be fraud with corruption. I hate being this negative, but the question is always: Has the fundamentals changed? Anyone fired? In Jail? No. Nothing has changed. There is no reason to expect this to go any better than Medupi and Kusile did and/or does.
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Those ships are pieces of…optics.
The amount of power produced, the inflated costs etc counts for nought, but swinging an arm in the direction of said ships…“we are addressing the problem and see what we have achieved”
A friend commented last night what the other problem with these ships will be no doubt.
Rather than Eskom seeing the extra power generated by the ships as a golden opportunity to get their shop in order quicker, they will do just the opposite.
The ships will take up some slack which means maybe making it easier to take some aging plants offline for maintenance, also all these diesel turbines they are running in to the ground.
Don’t worry comrades, the Powerships are here for 20 years guaranteed, they will do all the work so for the next 20 years we don’t have to do anything. Sit back, relax, shut up and sip on your Johny Black.
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Man, if only… 20 Years got nothing to do with how long to fix the problem. Also has nothing to do with what the minimum contracts offered. Example Mozambique 10 years, Zambia 2 years and Indonesia for 5 years.
Speculation, based on the fact that past actions are a excellent predictor of future behaviour! Nope, this contract will have, just like most projects, either Lethuli Hose, or direct CancER members getting fees and kickbacks. Look at the Arms deal, and Medupi/Kusile… Remember the fart and alleged allegations that was the 4 Syndicates in Parliament and Eskom defrauding RSA? A continuation, with the added benefit of a solid 20 year income stream.
Also remember they are bankrupt, it’s almost election time and that costs big money, what a funding source this could be?
SpekulantGroetnis
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