In other news, His Majesty’s Post Office claimed a deduction of 93.4 million UKP for a provision made for compensation (which they haven’t actually paid) to former postmasters who got done over because of HMPO’s buggy IT system.
Clarification: HMPO claimed relief IRO a provision of 934 million UKP.
So much backtracking…I get distinct feeling he has been told to toe the line…elections are looming
Thought I post this here, seeing as Mantashe is involved …
My “Broad media spin detector” is going a little mad. Check out the spin on that. Headline says “Electricity minister defends plan to keep using coal”. OK, so that makes him sound like a Mantashe disciple. But the first paragraph reads: “Ramokgopa says South Africa should exploit its coal-fired power stations to help end load-shedding.” Emphasis mine.
If you read the article, he says, again emphasis mine:
In the short term, we want to exploit these assets…
And the other guy they quote, Jacob Mbele, agrees:
He said government should consider keeping coal-fired plants alive for as long as possible to provide power during the long lead times associated with bringing new capacity to the grid.
It’s not quite the bombshell it might appear to be from the headline only.
Do I have my concerns about their ability to build new capacity fast enough? Oh yes. Like any saffer, I have a healthy amount of “we’ll have to see about that”.
I can’t stand the click baity headlines from so many of the news sites these days… I try to stay away from sites like mybb and businesstech etc.
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It’s the narrative. Govmunt/CancER spends a lot on media, don’t ever forget that. Many useful libtards…
LiberaaleGroetnis
In every clickbait article there is a gem of truth … find it. Notice it. Keep an eye out for it in the bigger picture.
EDIT: Context of what I’m noticing on the fringes …
Mantashe has said the same before, and now Ramokgopo is saying it … which makes sense by the way, short-term, coal stations and all that.
We have the Govs plan out for electricity going forward, which is going backward in the long term. Mantashe is there somewhere too, Mineral Resources and Energy Minister.
Mantashe and his mining depts applications fiasco.
Mantashe and Eskom’s woes over the decades into various issues and things, comments.
Mantashe and Coal Mining.
Mantashe ANC Chairperson.
One powerful "MAN"tashe that …
In every clickbait article there is a gem of truth … find it. Notice it. Keep an eye out for it in the bigger picture
This…I have drawn back from posting, as it is mybb 
But whatever…here goes
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…and then this…
What do I take from this…they, Eskom, could end up doing what they want with changing the stages of loadshedding
We found it. Ramokgopa said we’re not going to be too hasty in switching off coal plants, we’re going to prioritise less load shedding over that. The headline tried to make it sound as if he’s had a braai at Mantashe’s and changed his tune 
This plant looks a bit more than a ‘solar battery’
We hope that there is a connection to the grid so this power can be used…
Maybe even some attempt for politicking somewhere in there too?
As in “Look, LS is over again, ANC saved the day!” … but it did not last, so LS came back. 
That’s what I said yes.
Unfortunately, I suspect, very few people read past a headline and even then, many of those click baity articles are closer to Hollywood movies where after the melodramatic/action filled opening sequence, on screen text informs us “inspired by actual events.”
looking at that “article” and especially headline, the Afrikaans idiom of going to go fetch a tea cup from a baboon on the other side of a mole hill during a storm comes to mind… wait maybe I have them mixed up a bit. Any case, Eskom (read system operator) can and should act to maintain the stability of the grid - so you are correct to some extent that they can do what they want. I suspect there could even be scenarios where they need to add load to the grid (i.e. suspend/reduce load shedding) to protect the grid.
Interestingly, the grid code (NRS 048-9) only indicates that users should be informed of load reduction/shedding/interruption - it actually says nothing about informing anyone that the supply is restored earlier than planned. If Eskom did not communicate with licensees (municipalities etc) about a change in load shedding, then there is an actual story that could imply potential bad news - each municipality acting/not acting on information received is another story but those two stories would entail more that summarising information from two twitter posts.
When we read we sometimes can do more than hope…
First line of quoted article:
South Africa’s biggest solar battery storage system started feeding power into Eskom’s grid in mid-December 2023.
Many a time I have gone off and looked into what actually transpired … seldom it is as “exciting” as when re-told for “melodramatic content”.
The real-life experiences - unvarnished version - are priceless at times.
Your feedback is keeping me on my toes … 
Reminds me of this past Dec with friends and family, sitting and listening to people talk about Eskom and politics, the conversations around "clickbait headlines ". Fuming emotions. TEOTWAWKI.
Just sat there and smiled … realizing that any attempt to share deeper context … let’s just say stakes and burning came to mind.
You made my day!
Please post it in Afrikaans as well (It might be even be better!)
I only recognise two of the idioms wrapped up in this, “Die bobbejaan agter die bult gaan haal”, to fetch the baboon from the other side of the mountain, which means you’re seeing a disaster closer to home than it really is, and “'n Berg van 'n molshoop maak”, toe make a mountain out of a mole hill, to inflate the problem beyond it’s real severity.
OK, I see the third one, which would be English. A storm in a teacup.
Nice mashup!
There is a German version of the English one: Ein sturm in waßerglas! Basically the same, just in a glass of water instead of a cup of tea.
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They have a 20 year contract to sell their production to Eskom
But we need that power now! Not in 20 years!
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/malaphor
One of my favorites is “Not the sharpest egg in the basket.”
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