Gordhan's top 10 quotes on load shedding and Eskom's 'double whammy'

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan briefed the media on Thursday on the latest operational matters at Eskom following days of load shedding.

From state capture to Eskom's communication strategy, Gordhan did not hold back.

Here are his top 10 quotes.

1. On Eskom's communication strategy:

"We must apologise that Eskom does not communicate effectively. Sending out a tweet about load shedding is not communicating."

2. On Eskom's woes:

"Eskom is facing a double whammy - declining production and the need for repairs."

3. On Eskom and business:

"We want to assure business that by the time you get back to work in January, we will have a much more stable situation."

4. On Eskom and department capacity problems:

"I must confess to you that the Department of Public Enterprises should have a handle on what's going on, but we have one energy expert so we have no capacity."

5. On Eskom's senior managers:

"All senior managers of Eskom have been asked to cancel their leave (to deal with load shedding)."

6. On Eskom and the economy:

"Not only does (load shedding) irritate citizens, it creates uncertainty in the economy."

7. On Eskom and state capture:

"When you capture an entity like this, you don't do it for fun. You capture it because you can extract resources from it."

8. On Eskom and the load shedding timeframe:

"We are going to try our best to get to a place where load shedding disappears before Christmas."

9. On Eskom and the Presidency:

"The President (Cyril Ramaphosa) will soon announce a task team in Cabinet who will work with Eskom (on its turnaround strategy)."

10. On Eskom and the way forward:

"We will need a week-by-week plan in terms of who is taking responsibility for what. And consequence management...(if someone doesn't follow through) someone must take the fall for it."

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