PHUTI MOSOMANE
IN what some would consider an uncharacteristic move, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi says that he plans to tell President Cyril Ramaphosa at a high-level meeting on Friday night to urgently stop the load shedding crisis and fix the embattled power utility Eskom.
Lesufi was speaking at a special breakfast held at the Soshanguve East Secondary School, north of Pretoria, to honour top performers in the National Senior Certificate matric exams.
“We are meeting the President tonight (Friday), and I will ask President Ramaphosa that if we do not stop load shedding, this will be the end of us,” he told parents and teachers in Soshanguve on Friday, adding that he intended to re-assure Ramaphosa that Gauteng is willing to support economic growth, but Eskom’s continued blackouts remain a stumbling block.
Lesufi said getting Gauteng back on an economic trajectory required reliable and sustainable energy supply.
“As Gauteng we have already registered our disappointment with the managers of the energy Eskom. We want Eskom to stop loadshedding,” he said.
Lesufi said he led a team that met with Eskom recently, adding that province wants to take over maintenance of all power plants supplying electricity to Gauteng.
“Eskom is in the process of checking the figures, and so we have entered the energy space,” Lesufi added.
Without revealing details of how the province intends fixing power stations supplying Gauteng with electricity, Lesufi said failure to stop load shedding posed a major threat to the survival of the state into the future.
Political analysts say that Lesufi has correctly read the mood in the streets, and unless the government fixes electricity problems, South Africa will likely see the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lose support in the upcoming national and provincial elections scheduled for next year.
Earlier, Eskom said loadshedding will be maintained at stage 4 for Friday and Saturday evenings at 16:00 – 05:00.
Loadshedding will be lowered to Stage 3 at 05:00 – 16:00 on Saturday and further reduced to Stage 2 on Sunday morning.
A full statement will be published on Sunday, the power utility said.
Following cancelation of his participation in the 2022 World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Ramaphosa has been meeting various interest groups including political parties, and businesses aimed at finding a solution to the country’s energy crisis.
Ramaphosa met various political parties last Sunday.
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) President Julius Malema told Ramaphosa that the electricity crisis in South Africa is a creation of people who are preoccupied and want to sell Eskom.
“The problem of electricity supply in South Africa are man-made by the people who want to destroy Eskom so that they can privately generate electricity for their own greedy capitalist interests,” Malema said.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa’s spokesperson Vincent Magwenya confirmed that a presidential coordinating council meeting is taking place.
“He will meet with the President’s Coordinating Council which is made up of premiers, executive mayors and ministers. And really, the purpose of this work is informed by the fact that all parts of society need to work together if we were to overcome this crisis,” Magwenya said.
He said Ramaphosa continues to receive daily reports on the status of Eskom’s electricity performance.
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