THE ANC says it is gravely concerned about the latest announcement by Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd to implement Stage 4 load shedding, adding that this may be implemented deliberately for “political ends”.
The governing party’s spokesperson Pule Mabe said on Wednesday that the latest bout of load-shedding was implemented despite a commitment by the CEO Andre De Ruyter of the power utility to contain load-shedding and ease disruptions to power supply in mid-October.
Eskom announced on Wednesday that it was pushing load shedding to Stage 4 at noon on Wednesday, and this would continue until 05:00 on Friday.
The intensifying of power cuts comes on the first day of the matric final exams and a mere five days before the local government elections.
“The ANC is further concerned that the announcement made by Eskom coincides with the first day of final examinations for thousands of Matriculants across the country who must have the opportunity to study and write their exams uninterrupted by power outages,” said Mabe.
“Given the inconsistency in information and assurances received from the utility, the ANC is by all intents and purposes quite concerned that these acts may be the deliberate actions of some within Eskom for political ends.”
Mabe said the ANC will demand unequivocal answers on the current state of power supply.
“The mixed-messages and lack of public transparency and accountability witnessed are a source of grave concern and suspicion. It is also a direct affront to the ANC’s commitment in our manifesto to ensure safe and reliable electricity supply to our communities,” he said.
“For this is to be achieved, the ANC calls for leadership and transparency in explaining to South Africans the state of power supply and in order to make an honest assessment on whether the right skills and leadership are at our disposal at the utility under the current circumstances. The anxiety and disruption meted upon our people by the inconsistency in messaging and failure to take the nation into confidence in the state of the grid must be condemned.”
NC deputy secretary-general Jessie Duarte says the governing party will demand answers from Eskom CEO and Public Enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
“You cannot do something like that and not give us a reason why. You also have to think, as a society, that we have lives to live and businesses to run and children to feed. So it’s unacceptable, so our people need a proper answer from Meneer de Ruyter as well as the minister,” said Duarte.
Eskom resumed cutting power to customers due to breakdowns at some of its electricity-generating plans.
The state-owned company, which is struggling to reduce its debt burden, has been cutting 2,000 megawatts from the grid since Saturday evening after breakdowns and malfunctions at six of its plants.
However, Eskom accelerated to stage 4 on Wednesday afternoon.
The power utility is citing a total generation loss of 14 957 MW as the reason for the intense power cuts.
Eskom has, however, assured South Africans that load shedding will come to an end by the start of next week.
EFF leader Julius Malema, on the campaign trail in Buffalo City on Tuesday, claimed the reintroduction of load shedding was all part of a well-orchestrated and elaborate scheme by the ANC to steal votes from smaller parties.
“Once the electricity switches off, we go stand next to the boxes, and no one is going to touch any box. There is no vote that is going to be stolen here,” Malema said.
The DA’s mayoral candidate Geordin Hill-Lewis wrote an open letter to the city’s residents, expressing his concern about load shedding, particularly as the matric exams had started.
“We, the people of Cape Town, should never accept the unacceptable. I can assure you that ongoing electricity blackouts and the prospect of a complete collapse of our electricity grid will never be acceptable as long as the DA governs in Cape Town.”
Hill-Lewis had recently announced a plan to reduce Cape Town’s reliance on Eskom.
“We will procure our own electricity from independent producers. We will empower residents to generate and trade their own electricity via the City’s grid. And we will build on the success of Steenbras to expand our own generating capacity,” he said in the letter on Wednesday.
- Inside Politics
