PHUTI MOSOMANE
EFF leader Julius Malema says the announcement by Eskom that South Africans must be prepared to live with load shedding for the next two years is both “dangerous” and “destructive”.
“The EFF has long exposed that there is no variable plan by Eskom or the government to put an end to the crippling blackouts which result in billions of losses to our economy, destroying businesses and are a constant threat to lives and livelihoods of millions of South Africans,” Malema said.
He said the announcement made by Eskom on Sunday will undoubtedly collapse the country, and lead to food instability, a crisis the country cannot afford.
He said the looming “economic collapse is a concession of utter incompetence” by both Eskom and the government.
Despite repeated meetings about meetings since last year July, EFF said there seems to be no “coherence in communication and direction” by President Cyril Ramaphosa in government and Eskom.
Pointing out what is clearly a clash of approaches to solving Eskom’s blackouts between Ramaphosa and Minerals Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, the party said the two are clearly at loggerheads.
“The Minister of Minerals Resources and Energy seems to suggest that the energy crisis can be resolved by utilizing the existing generation capacity, implementing maintenance at power plants, utilizing coal and sourcing electricity from programs such as Karpowerships.”
Karpowership project refers to a ship that generates power using fossil fuels.
The project has struggled to secure the environmental impact assessments (EIAs) owing to public consultation.
Public meetings were eventually held last year in Saldanha Bay (Western Cape province, and in Richards Bay (Kwa-Zulu Natal province).
In early 2021, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy listed Karpowerships among the eight successful bidders in a 20-year deal worth R200bn under the Risk Mitigation IPP Procurement Programme (RMIPPPP).
“Ramaphosa on the other hand is hellbent on pursuing a misguided approach of experimenting with absolute reliance on Renewable energy, while Minister of Finance has communicated a period of 12 to 18 months to end the rolling blackouts to the global community, completely contradicting Eskom,” it said in a statement.
Malema said these clear contradictions are a result of a continued attempt to please private capital which seeks to “maximize profit through parasitic Independent Power Producers (IPPs)”.
EFF said no country in Europe or America has yet abandoned coal.
It said any attempt to abandon coal as an energy source in South Africa remains a “nonsensical experiment by the west in Africa.”
Meanwhile, the DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Kevin Mileham the announcement made by Eskom today that South Africa will be placed on permanent stage 2 or 3 loadshedding for the next 2 years is the clearest admission yet by the ANC government and Eskom that they have failed to solve the electricity crisis.
“What is more infuriating is that the ANC government has, for the past week, been telling the country outright lies to the effect that loadshedding will be a thing of the past. First, it was Gwede Mantashe who said he could end loadshedding in 6 to 12 months, and then Enoch Godongwana who claimed that power cuts will end in 12 to 18 months. Eskom has rubbished these claims and placed the country on permanent loadshedding for 2 years with no guarantees after that,” Mileham said.
Mileham said the DA rejects this “unrelenting punishment” of ordinary citizens and it’s precisely why the party has declared Wednesday a National Day of Action.
“We will be marching to Luthuli House to protest against ANC loadshedding and unaffordable, unfair electricity price increases. It is time that power is given back to the people,” Mileham added.
Earlier on Sunday, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told Soweto residents that the province told Ramaphosa that loadshedding must stop now.
“I told President Ramaphosa two days ago that as the Gauteng Government we want loadshedding to stop now and not tomorrow. If this does not happen, we are all finished,” Lesufi said.
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