Late 1980s-early 1990s - Eskom advises municipalities to close down their own power stations as "too much power" is being generated.
Existing power plants are shut down or mothballed - for instance, Komati, Camden and Grootvlei Power Stations.
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1998 - The White Paper on the Energy Policy of SA, approved by Cabinet, shows Eskom warning that its surplus capacity will be fully used by 2007.
The report is signed by then-energy minister Penuel Maduna.
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1998 - Government instructs Eskom to stop building new power plants.
It favours deregulation measures and hopes independent contractors will step in to help supply power.
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2003 - Former Energy Minister Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says there is no looming power crisis.
She says then-Eskom CEO Thulani Gcabashe assured her SA will never run out of power.
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2004 - Government gives Eskom approval to start building power plants - a decision taken "too late", says Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin in January 2008.
Around this time Eskom starts looking at reopening power plants shut down years earlier.
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2005 - Erwin assures SA there is no national power crisis, despite numerous power cuts throughout this year and 2006.
In December 2005, problems surface at Koeberg and Erwin makes the now-infamous "bolt in the generator" comment to explain the failure of one of the units.
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2006- Wide-spread criticism mounts for Erwin's explanation of the situation at Koeberg, South Africa's only nuclear power station.
Poor planning and a lack of maintenance were subsequently shown to be present at the power station, once the pride of Eskom.
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2006-2007 - SA experiences intermittent power cuts, but reports show that Eskom's top managers received huge salaries and hefty bonuses - Thulani Gcabashe, took home a reported R6.1m package (R4.6m in salary and a R1.5m bonus).
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April 2007 - Gcabashe steps down but remains on Eskom's payroll for 18 months as an advisor.
Thulani Gcabashe started out as a town planner but joined Eskom in 1993, becoming CEO in 2000. He was in charge of numerous multi-billion rand capacity increasing ventures.
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May 2007 - Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga is appointed.
Maroga was previously MD of Eskom’s Transmission division. His training as an electric engineer was welcomed as he hit the ground running at a company where the cracks were beginning to show.
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January 2008 - Extensive power cuts plague SA for weeks. Government declares the power problems "a national emergency" and calls on all Eskom users to cut power consumption by 10%, saying power cuts could plague the country for five to seven years to come.
Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka apologises on January 24 for the power blackouts.
On January 25, SA's major gold, diamond and platinum mines shut down after Eskom is unable to provide a steady supply of electricity.
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February 2008 - President Thabo Mbeki apologises for the crippling electricity shortage but promised that the "emergency" would be overcome.
It is announced that Eskom needs R55bn to ensure the utility maintains its current credit rating.
Electricity usage appears to stabilise as people take power saving warnings and tips to heart.
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March 2008 - Eskom applies for a price hike of at least 53%, meeting widespread resistance and criticism for the proposed price increase.
The company also announced a massive skills shortage at the company and had advertised 848 vacant jobs.
An outcry follows after news that Eskom's executive management received performance bonuses of R10m.
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April 2008 - Eskom begins scheduled load shedding across the country, on regular set intervals, to reduce power consumption. It was announced the load shedding would continue for three months and that areas around the country would be affected three times a week, on alternating days. The cuts would last for two-and-a-half hours.
Eskom announces it will buy an additional 250MW of power from Mozambique's Cahora Bassa hydro-electric power station.
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