It really is sad how the minister is saying “less jobs” when actually not a single job was lost. It is also sad how he says it makes less power, when it actually makes more. And mostly, did everyone forget that Komati (and also Grootvlei and Camden) were already EOL in the 90s? They were brought back from 2003 onwards precisely because Eskom was not allowed to build more stations. Maybe you should put THAT in your master class, comrade Mantashe.
This old man called Mantashe … have I ever alluded/mentioned that I don’t trust him anywhere near an electrical outlet … even one that is off due to LS?
As long as this Mantashe is anywhere near anything related to politics, SA has an “undermining” problem. (Pun intended.)
There is good news though.
He spoke at a “Masterclass”… now there are going to be consequences.
Note: Quiet is bad.
So speak up Mantashe … share your thoughts … we are listening, you bet there are going to be consequences, old man as the world (around Eskom/investors) is attentively listening each time you open your mouth.
Speak up … and step right into it.
Media, politicians, lobbyists, corporates, everyone spinning and playing fast-and-loose with information. While Eskom should be able to point and say no direct jobs were lost with Komati’s shutdown, the impact is greater than that. Eskom commissioned a socioeconomic impact study which indicated, based on 2020 data the potential loss of ~790 jobs (257 direct Eskom, 231 Eskom Rotek Industry Related, and 303 contract positions). By 2022 this number seemingly dwindled down to 189 permanent employees and 364 contractors and following the shutdown should be 150 permanent employees and 240 maintenance and service contractors. What these numbers do not show is the impact outside of Eskom direct employment. The socio-economic study suggested around 3900 jobs being impacted in total (obviously many related to coal).
An absolute “not a single job was lost” seems unlikely. While the numbers can be disputed the shutting down of Komati was not handled well by Eskom - by their own admission ( 1 another Tertiary Institution Engagement & 2 paywalled). Komati’s last unit was shut down on 31 October 2022. Eskom started inviting public comments on that socio-economic study during November 2022…
How much power does Komati make now? Not more than before retiring the coal apparatus. It now makes 0W.
The last remaining operating unit of Komati (Unit 9) was shut down on October 31, 2022.
Planning and implementation of decommissioning will take 4-5 years (including a 1.5-year preparatory phase). (source)
The planned first phase of 100MW PV is targeted for July 2025 and the 70MW wind by October 2028.
It is factually inaccurate to claim JET/Carbon lowering was the cause of Komati’s shut down. However, the loan agreement requires that whatever happens at Komati has to be renewable/low(zero) carbon emision based so it does have an effect on energy source selection. It would actually be interesting to know the cost comparison between the likely 150-200MW renewable based generation vs overhauling a coal based 200MW at komati - not that it would matter since funding external to Eskom’s own empty coffers for coal projects should be unobtaninium.
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Now this is an interesting development …and Mantashe is nowhere mentioned.
Forget about Russia helping us out, now the Chinese are handing out cash left right and centre.
And it’s all for free!
Between them lines, or should that read “sheets”… selectively disable them bee rules for china please, in the energy sector… Aaaand there are no conditions on the money donation to get those entities off the LS schedules, hmmmm 
VersteekteGroetnis
Hey, we must be nice now.
I have Chinese batteries and Chinese BMS, and lots and lots of other Chinese products I don’t even know about … solar panels … some even posted about potential Chinese EV’s coming!!!
Guys, China is here already.
And between Russia, Karpower, ANC … I think China has a better chance.
I mean, subtle they are, as someone else said elsewhere, at the “Throw a Brick” conference, China is suggesting SA needs to relax BEE Laws … their own “friends” are telling them that.
How epic is THAT!!!
Hey, me for one has no problem with good Chinesium materials, when packaged well… It’s not the Chinese people at all, nor some of their products, but them governments combined signing secret documents… man…
GeheimeGroetnis
As I said, China is here, been here for a very long time now under ANC rule. At least now we know there are “secret” agreements that up till now we knew nothing about.
We have a serious problem in SA. China is game to help. The price? We will see.
Personally I “feel” China does not want to upset the apple cart. “Fixing” SA will lift SA up to serve Chinese interests better, raw materials, and easier access to more African country’s resources?
The West had a chance … they squandered it. Angered Africa.
Versus SA fails catastrophically under ANC rule, wide open then for “the worse most vicious hounds to start eating from its carcass”.
China may be the lesser evil … will see.
PS. I also think China will be less tolerant of “ridiculous” ministers. Money first, politics second. These silly ministers will be removed from power.
More details:
I have been humbled by our resident Village informant too many times now… 
, something I am thankful for, but still… I think I’m going to stop weighing in on this topic. Hy moet maar loop soos hy moet…
@plonkster , here is the thing.
Having an opinion is extremely important, may it be right or wrong.
What is even more crucial, to know when one has learned something new.
So here is the conundrum.
If you are quiet, no opinion, then the @Village_Idiot cannot share his opinion.
You, no, WE lose out on a bunch of new info WE never even knew about, never have thought of even.
Hence I have no fear to say what I think, feel, or muse on … someone will have an opinion back that I, WE, can only but learn from.
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I used to pride myself on being level-headed… the loss of that, or what I perceive as the loss of that… hurts more than you can imagine 
Get over yourself. Revel in gaining new information. 
Took a @Village_Idiot to teach us some levelheadedness.
Ps. I tried to take on his last informative post … looked at it all … wanted to find a kink in his armor, point out that he also used info from questionable sources/reporters … I could not. The game is on!
Trust but verify …
an echo chamber while amusing, has little real utility?
suspect you are more level headed than most - in this case you just got somewhat blindsided by the pantomime which is South Africa. Uncle Gwede is not difficult to dislike and for all his apparent faults he makes a handy (willing?) lightning rod. Add to this my bugbear of what passes for news is now akin to the vitamin/supplement industry - anyone can claim anything and unless you do plenty homework will just be making very expensive urine rather that perk up your brain… or your whatchamacallit.
Case in point (the news24 article is from 24Aug2023) : Long one - sorry
Earlier in the thread we were told that Gwede is causing delays to this legislation. The news24 article (in this post) also indicates that the legislation is finally tabled - i.e. “Gwede finally did what he should have”.
The businesslive article earlier in the thread was seemingly working from a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mineral Resources and Energy meeting where they mention that they do not have the Bill to discuss and that the Bills office say they do not have it. So, we are told by the news people “Gwede is obstructing things”.
Problem is that the “reporters”, for whatever reason, are paraphrasing parliamentary process and possibly due to the rush to “scoop” content and/or slow/absent response to questions posed to relevant parties make and repeat erroneous conclusions.
Detour:
How does law making work? (source)
- A draft Bill, which has been drafted by a government department, is submitted by the relevant Minister to the Cabinet for approval.
- The state law advisers must refine and approve the draft Bill.
- The Bill is then introduced and tabled in the National Assembly for what is known as the First Reading. The Bill is also published in the Government Gazette.
- The Bill is then referred to the relevant Committee in the National Assembly which considers the Bill and may agree to it, propose amendments or reject the Bill, generally after a process of public consultation.
- The Second Reading then takes place where the Bill is debated and voted on at a sitting of the National Assembly.
- If there is a majority of votes in favour, the Bill is passed and the Bill is then referred to the NCOP for consideration.
- The NCOP can accept or reject the Bill or propose amendments to it:
- If the NCOP passes the Bill without amendments, it goes to the President for his assent and signature and the Bill then becomes law. The Act appears in the Government Gazette and comes into effect on a date determined by the President.
*If the NCOP proposes amendments to or rejects the Bill, it must go back to the National Assembly for reconsideration. The National Assembly can pass the Bill with or without the NCOP amendments, or it can reject the Bill.
end detour:
Following the businesslive article the DMRE stated:
Following the Cabinet’s approval of the Electricity Regulation Act (ERA) Amendment Bill on 29 March 2023, the Department gazzetted the Explanatory Summary in terms of rule 276 (1)(b) of National Assembly Rules. The Bill was subsequently submitted to Parliament on 20 April 2023.
On 05 May 2023, Parliament requested the DMRE to re-submit the Bill to the Office of Chief State Law Advisor (OCSLA) for final certification following additional inputs from Operation Vulindlela and National Treasury. The DMRE indeed re-submitted the Bill to the said institutions on the same day.
The process leading towards the promulgation of the Bill into an Act of Parliament lies within Parliament as prescribed in the rules of Parliament. During this process, the Department has been in constant engagements with OCSLA to ensure speedy processing of the Bill.
Subsequent to the processing and certification, OCSLA transmitted the Bill to Parliament on 15 August 2023.
So, while it is entirely possible that the DMRE is just outright lying, the Bill has been tabeled in April (not this week as news24 indicates). The most recent place where it was, was at the State Law Advisor (not Gwede as indicated by businesslive) - which will also likely explain why the Bills Office did not have it…yet.
This does not change the outcome that the bill is very unlikely to come into law before 2024, but it does possibly change that Gwede is not the sole obstructor and root of all evil… in this case.
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This sounds like a default on payment, no? 
ChinesiumsGroetnis
Precisely. I began to discover how bad it is with the MyBroadband “Eskom will tax your solar!” stories, and then after that… I realised more and more that unless you have the time to study all this stuff, you essentially don’t know what is really going on.
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I have coffee in my nose … when I got to the part in bold!!!
Also realized how bad the news has become … but then I reminded myself, smoke/fire or baby/bathwater.
The trick is to get to the bottom of it … for that I come here.
part of the double edged razor (Ocam Occam or Minora?) of the ease/speed of information in our (post)modern time. We can now literaly see/hear for instance even things like committees meeting in virtual parliament but there is so much info that we can’t keep up with all of it. Then we have to deal with blatant misinformation and just poor quality “filtering” by the people we entrust to do some of the filtering. Some of this is our own fault (how many of us pay for a news subscription that should keep the lights on for reporters so they do not have to resort to click bait and bubblegum?).
Back to Eskom, don’t think this was reported and @fredhen (if I remember correctly) raised the OCGT diesel budget earlier in the thread.
From the State of the Grid update of 13 August, the following numbers were mentioned
Financial year to end July:
Eskom OCGT
Budget: R9.7 billion
Burned: R9.2 billion (May accounted for R3.1 billion)
Total (Eskom + IPP) OCGT
Budget: R12.4 billion
Burned R12.416 billion (giving apparently “just under 2000GWh”)
The budget amount to my understanding is what Eskom projected the spend to be. The total budget iirc is around R30 billion.
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