Blackout rumours a “malicious hoax”: Eskom

[miningmx.com] – ESKOM said rumours it had informed the South African government the country’s national grid was in danger of collapse – a so-called blackout – was the resurfacing of a “malicious hoax” that first went viral in April.

“The national power system has multiple layers of manual and automatic protection in place in order to prevent a national blackout from occurring,” said Brian Molefe, acting CEO of Eskom.

“Load shedding is one of the mechanisms implemented by the System Operator to protect the power system. The eventuality of a blackout occurring is therefore remote.” he added.

Commenting on the hoax in April, Eskom said: “The message regarding Eskom is not true and is meant to create unnecessary panic. Government is confident that the measures it is introducing will ensure that the country does not reach a point of a complete