DA calls for the State of Disaster to be declared on Eskom

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has called for the State of Disaster to be declared on Eskom. It says the State of Disaster would be solution-driven when it comes to running the power utility.

The party argues that the rolling blackouts, which have cost the country billions of rand, continue to hurt the country’s economy and have contributed to the unemployment crisis.

Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter has apologised for the rolling blackouts but South Africans continue to bear the brunt.

In a bid to end blackouts, the DA has called on the government to declare Eskom a State of Disaster and implement a cheaper energy bill.

According to the party, the bill will drive the cost of electricity down and diversify the country’s energy sources to introduce renewables.

The country has been experiencing rolling blackouts for years now and this has had a huge impact on the economy as well as the livelihoods of South Africans.

“The DA has written to the Director-General in the in the Presidency Phindile Baleni, who is also the secretary to Cabinet, requesting that the DA’s call for a State of National Disaster on Eskom and the electricity sector be placed on the agenda for the next Cabinet meeting. The underlying premise for that call is that in view of the dire state of the country’s electricity generation capacity. South Africa should be making it easier for independent power producers to bring new generation capacity online on scale and in the shortest amount of time,” says Kevin Mileham, DA Shadow Minister of Energy.

The party believes that radical measures need to be implemented to avert an energy crisis.

“We are calling for an electricity emergency response plan that must be activated to lay out short, medium and long term plans. Now this plan, which is geared to mitigate the State of Disaster to ensure that it doesn’t hit us in the face, must involve all stakeholders,” says Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises.

The party has further called for the privatisation of electricity generation as they say this will allow citizens to generate power on their own.

VIDEO: Rolling Blackouts | DA media briefing calling for Eskom to be declared a State of Disaster: