A fire that broke out near the breakdown-laden Kriel power station on Monday sent shockwaves of worry across social media.
What caused the fire near Kriel power station?
In the video clip, which you can watch below, plumes of smoke permeate the area where Kriel power station, and the coal mine of the same name, are situated.
Online outrage immediately soared, with fears raised about the possible implications this fire may have on loadshedding.
However, according to Eskom, not only was this fire not at Kriel power station, but it also did not directly impact the parastatal’s ability to provide power, albeit rotationally, to households.
“The video below depicts a fire impacting a conveyor belt at Kriel Mine – not at the power station. This will have no impact on the power station as it is receiving coal from an open pit and by road,” the national electricity supplier noted in a tweet.
Eskom had not indicated the cause of the fire at the time this article was published.
The reaction to the video speaks volumes about tensions that exist between Eskom and the public. The past weekend’s epic blunder, where more than five generating units were lost at various plants, including Kriel, has further wedged the gap of mistrust in the state-owned power supplier.
On Monday, Eskom announced that in what turned out to be a false positive, “a unit each at Camden, Kriel, Kusile and Kendal were returned but unfortunately had to take off a unit at Duvha which developed a boiler tube leak.”
Therefore, what may have been much-needed relief from a possibly hefty reduction of loadshedding stage ended in a whimper.
“Loadshedding will thus be reduced to Stage 5 at midnight,” Eskom said.
Readers from these metros can check the latest loadshedding schedule below: