The Defend Our Democracy Campaign and a number of civil society organisations have called on Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan to find urgent solutions to the electricity crisis in the country. During a meeting on Tuesday, the organisations raised the impact of the electricity crisis on the experiences of citizens, the economy, and the stability of the country’s democracy.
They called for an urgent integrated and credible plan of action by government to address the problems in the short to medium term. Energy expert Chris Yelland said South Africans want an urgent solution to the country’s energy crisis, as they anxiously wait for President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Eskom. Rolling blackouts have increased as the condition of Eskom’s generation fleet steadily worsens.
The impact of rolling blackouts on the economy has been devastating. At the moment, Eskom has implemented Stage 3 rolling blackouts which is upgraded to Stage 4 from four o’clock this afternoon until midnight when the rolling blackouts will be downgraded to Stage 2.
This is expected to continue tomorrow.
Yelland says it’s not clear what Ramaphosa’s announcement will contain.
We are expecting something, what it is exactly we don’t know but there is a growing call even from the National Planning Commission and other well respected stakeholders that government should recognise the electricity problem as an emergency and deal with it as such. So, we are interested to hear President Ramaphosa’s long-awaited response to this emergency and how he sees it can be dealt with,” says Yelland.
VIDEO: Defend our Democracy’s call for government to urgently deal with the electricity crisis: Moss Ntlha
