{"id":102757,"date":"2025-12-10T19:13:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/?p=102757"},"modified":"2025-12-10T19:13:51","modified_gmt":"2025-12-10T17:13:51","slug":"eskom-deal-raises-fresh-questions-over-sas-power-stability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/eskom-deal-raises-fresh-questions-over-sas-power-stability\/","title":{"rendered":"ESKOM Deal Raises Fresh Questions Over SA\u2019s Power Stability"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za<\/a>
\n3-minute read | 10 December 2025<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"

\ud83d\udcf8 Energy expert Professor Vally Padayachy warns that ESKOM\u2019s ferrochrome deal could shape South Africa\u2019s electricity future as the grid hangs in a delicate balance.<\/p><\/div>\n

South Africa\u2019s fragile electricity landscape is once again under scrutiny as ESKOM\u2019s newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ferrochrome producers triggers both cautious optimism and renewed concern. With energy-intensive industries under severe pressure, experts warn that the country\u2019s power system is approaching a critical juncture that demands urgent, decisive action.<\/p>\n

The agreement, aimed at securing negotiated pricing to keep smelters operational, comes as rising tariffs and global market shocks have pushed the Ferrochrome sector to the brink. Power and energy expert Professor Valley Padayachy, a former senior executive at both ESKOM and City Power, stresses that the move represents far more than a temporary intervention. \u201cThis is a genuine attempt to develop a sustainable, long-term intervention for the Ferrochrome sector,\u201d he explains in an interview with Radio Islam International.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

He warns that the industry has been \u201cdebilitated\u201d by soaring electricity costs, revealing that some companies have already issued Section 189 notices. Without targeted relief, he cautions, the economic fallout will be severe. \u201cIf you do not allow for these negotiated pricing agreements, you may exacerbate the viability of these industries, which has a knock-on effect on job losses.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the cost burden remains unavoidable. As Padayachy notes, \u201cESKOM is government-owned, and eventually the taxpayer would carry the burden.\u201d The challenge, he says, is balancing industrial relief with protecting households and small businesses at a time when tariffs are \u201cgoing through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n

ESKOM has given itself 90 days to develop solutions, a deadline critics view as unrealistic. Padayachy disagrees. With load-shedding suspended and surplus capacity available, he says the environment is finally right for meaningful progress. \u201cThank God we\u2019ve stopped load-shedding\u2026 we have more than the national demand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, restarting smelters requires caution. Restoring even 40% of furnace capacity risks unsettling the fragile grid. \u201cIf all the smelters came back on the grid, we would have been back to load-shedding,\u201d he warns.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Padayachy believes South Africa\u2019s power future lies in a hybrid model of restructuring, renewables, gas, and, critically, nuclear. With government backing for small modular reactors, he argues nuclear remains essential. \u201cI have a lot of faith and confidence in nuclear; it is needed as a dispatchable technology to stabilise the electricity grid.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the 90-day deadline begins, South Africa now faces another decisive test in its long-running energy crisis.<\/p>\n

Listen<\/strong> to the full interview on The Daily Round-Up<\/em><\/a> with Moulana Junaid Kharsany and Professor Valley Padayachy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 10 December 2025 South Africa\u2019s fragile electricity landscape is once again under scrutiny as ESKOM\u2019s newly signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Ferrochrome producers triggers both cautious optimism and renewed concern. With energy-intensive industries under severe pressure, experts warn that the country\u2019s power system is approaching a critical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":102758,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[28,4995],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest-news","category-south-africa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ESKOM.jpeg?fit=314%2C160&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pc0QIf-qJn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-24 15:21:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102757\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102758"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radioislam.org.za\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}