The Democratic Alliance (DA) has lashed out at President Cyril Ramaphosa for what it says is the failure to implement the Energy Action Plan.
The President announced the plan in July in an attempt to achieve long-term energy security.
However, the country was once again plunged into darkness after Eskom announced the implementation of Stage 6 rolling blackouts last week.
The power utility has decreased it to Stage 5 but this still offers little reprieve for customers who have since taken to social media to lay their frustrations bare.
South Africans react to Eskom’s Stage 6 blackouts:
As a result, President Ramaphosa cut his trip to the United States short to deal with the energy crisis facing the country.
The DA had called for President Ramaphosa’s urgent return at the weekend, but party leader John Steenhuisen has criticised the President over the plan that he says has yielded no results two months later.
“There is no part of the plan that is on track, this is largely due to a lack of urgency with no measurable targets or clear time frames attached to any of the project deliverables. The most urgent short-term goal of this plan was to improve the operational performance of Eskom’s existing fleet of power stations, but this plan maintenance process has very clearly derailed.”
Steenhuisen says, “Two months into it, South Africans still have no clarity on any of the promises made in the plan. This includes recruiting or rehiring of experienced engineers or managers, the procurement of electricity from neighbouring countries, steps taken to combat sabotage and theft at Eskom and the plan to incentivise residential and commercial solar installations.”
The DA has also called on the President to sack Mineral Resources and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, amid the country’s worsening electricity crisis.
Steenhuisen says, “The firing of Minister Mantashe – it is incomprehensible that he has managed to remain in this crucial position despite his multiple failures. He, not Eskom, is responsible for the dysfunctional regulatory framework that has prevented our energy sector’s recovery. He has repeatedly blocked renewable energy projects, he has allowed the Risk Mitigation Power Producer Procurement Programme to stall in the middle of this crisis and he just cannot see beyond coal. He must go and he must go now.”
DA leader John Steenhuisen holds a media briefing on SA’s electricity crisis:
