EE-News

News and announcements from EE Publishers

Issue 331, February 2016

Industry outrage at unilateral directive ending partial testing by SABS

by Chris Yelland and Pierre Potgieter, EE Publishers

An internal directive by South African Bureau of Standards CEO Dr. Boni Mehlomakulu in 2015 requires that SABS Test House only perform "full testing" in future, and puts an end to "partial testing" by the SABS. This has elicited outrage from a wide range of industry associations in the electrical engineering sector.

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SABS CEO Dr. Boni Mehlomakulu

The affected industry, through their industry associations, believes that the new directive is poorly conceived and ill-considered, and came without any consultation with affected stakeholders. They say that the directive was issued without due consideration of wide-ranging negative economic impacts and consequences, and without due consideration of viable and acceptable alternatives. In this regard, they compare the new SABS directive with the damaging visa regulations promulgated by the Department of Home Affairs in 2015.

The broad-based response from industry leaders is that this unprecedented action by SABS damages the economy at a critical time, and undermines the competitiveness of South African manufacturers, introduces unfair barriers to international trade, and interferes with the work of government departments, state-owned enterprises, municipalities and regulators. Industry leaders go as far as to suggest that the new directive by the SABS is little more than a commercially driven racket, and an abuse by SABS Test House of its dominant market position.

SABS Test House, part of SABS Commercial SOC Ltd, has a number of SANAS accredited laboratories serving different sectors of the economy, and performs testing of products and systems on a commercial basis, to both local and international standards. SABS also has recognition and reciprocity agreements with a number of the accredited standards bodies and test laboratories of other countries, whose national accreditation system falls under ILAC, the international umbrella body of national accreditation organisations, of which the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS) is a member.

While the SABS appears set on its course of action to put an end to partial testing, the affected industry appears to have taken heart from a recent judgement on 9 December 2015 in the High Court, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, granting an urgent interdict preventing SABS Commercial SOC Ltd from stopping partial testing services to Natal Pump Services (Pty) Ltd, pending a full judicial review of the matter. The judge found that Natal Pump Services faced financial ruin as a result of SABS' unilateral administrative action.

In light of the massive financial implications on the companies involved, on the affected industry and on the economy of South Africa, the relevant industry associations and their member companies would do well to consider the judgement carefully, with a view to taking legal action of their own... (more)

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NI Technical Symposium 2016

You are invited to National Instruments' largest regional technology and innovation event, the NI Technical Symposium 2016 in Johannesburg.

DATE: 25 February 2016

TIME: 9 am to 5 pm

VENUE: Bytes Technology Conference Centre, Midrand Johannesburg

COST: No cost free of charge

View the sessions and view the programme

Why attend?

Register online now

This one-day technical event will explore the latest technologies, best practices and application trends from National Instruments in LabVIEW, data acquisition, automated test, and embedded systems.

Through interactive presentations and application-oriented demos, discover the latest advancements in design, research and test. Discuss your application with your peers, industry stalwarts and NI experts.

Also, if you attend NITS you will get 50% off on any LabVIEW certification exam (CLD, CLAD, CLA) that you take before 31 March, 2016.

Highlights include:

Over 10 sessions & tutorials covering topics ranging from automated test, RF, DAQ, embedded and software defined radio
Interactive application demonstrations from system integrators
Networking opportunities with peers and domain experts from industries ranging from Automotive, Defense & Aerospace to Manufacturing
CLAD Exam Preparation session at the end of the conference to make you CLAD Ready.

The NI Technical Symposium 2016 is complimentary, but seats are limited so secure your seat now.

Register online now

NERSA hearings: massive opposition to Eskom price increase

by Joanne Taylor, assistant editor, EE Publishers

Despite the cancellation by the National Electricity Regulator of South Africa (NERSA) of the public hearings in the Free State, Mpumalanga and Limpopo, the hearings took place in the major cities around the country, and ended on a high note on Friday 5 February 2016 in Midrand, Gauteng.

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While there were suggestions by NERSA of some lack of interest by the public this time round, the hearings ended with a record number of over 8000 written submissions that will be presented to NERSA (after the submission deadline) by the Organisation Uniting Against Tax Abuse (OUTA). In addition, about 40 000 persons opposed the Eskom application by completing and submitting an online petition arranged by Avaaz. In contrast, the NERSA public hearings in 2015 only attracted about 300 written submissions.

At the hearings, NERSA cornered Eskom about the "unnecessary" use of Open Cycle Gas Turbines (OCGTs) during the first year (2013/14) of the third multi-year price determination (MYPD3) period, that amounts to some R8-billion of the total R22,8-billion that the power utility is trying to recoup through the Regulatory Clearing Account (RCA) mechanism.

Eskom was also put on the spot in respect of its declining sales volume (kWh units sold) which has been significantly lower than that budgeted in its MYDP3 application for the 2013/14 financial year. This decline in sales volume from budget accounts further for about R11-billion of Eskom's R22,8-billion claim.

The perception among many who opposed the tariff increase is that the higher than budgeted diesel usage is a direct result of Eskom's own failings. For example, had the Medupi, Kusile and Ingula projects been on schedule, Eskom would not have had to resort to the extensive operation of its diesel-driven OCGTs to meet demand.

Furthermore, had these generation projects been on schedule, Eskom would have had more than sufficient capacity to cope with the plant or line failures in neighbouring countries that impeded power imports. Similarly, there would have been adequate reserve margins to provide sufficient space to do proper maintenance on Eskom's existing generation fleet, and thus prevent its declining availability and performance in recent years, including 2013/14.

While Eskom blames the weak South African economy for the lower than budgeted sales volumes in 2013/14, electricity customers suggest that significant blame lies with Eskom itself. It has been widely reported that the minister of finance and economists have attributed a significant part of the decline in GDP growth, weakness in the South African economy and inflation to Eskom's supply constraints and massively increasing prices over several years... (more)

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