JOHANNESBURG - Electricity and Energy Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa is confident load reduction in rural areas will soon be a thing of the past.
Ramokgopa insists the issue isn’t widespread, but limited to isolated pockets.
He said government is on track to phase out load reduction in several provinces within months.
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However, he admits challenges persist in parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, where infrastructure strain and illegal connections remain hurdles.
“The only two provinces that remain a big challenge are KZN and Gauteng because of the density of that loadshedding.
"But also, the complexity related to the proliferation of informal settlements and the fact that you have networks of rent-seekers there who profit from this load reduction.
"They're the ones who are encouraging illegal connections and the ones who monitor it, who are executing that illegal connection and are going to put up a fight when you come in there to try and roll out smart meters and load reduction,” Ramokgopa said.