President Cyril Ramaphosa says government does not need to introduce an electricity state of emergency and that urgent measures that government is introducing will reduce the levels of load shedding and bring relief to businesses and citizens.
The President addressed the nation on the energy crisis the country has been experiencing.
South Africans recently endured stage six rolling blackouts amid an unprotected strike by Eskom workers.
The President says he has consulted with experts, business civil society and political parties on the crisis.
Ramaphosa has rejected calls from some political leaders for a state of emergency to be declared.
Meanwhile, President Ramaphosa has announced that government is scrapping the licencing requirements for 100 megawatt self generation as government moves to reduce the pressure on Eskom to generate electricity.
Ramaphosa has also announced that regulations are being changed to allow municipalities to procure power independently: “In June last year, we raised the licensing threshold for new embedded generation projects from 1 MW to 100 MW. This removed the licensing requirement for generation projects up to 100 MW that are connected to the grid. This measure enabled these generators to have the ability to sell electricity to one or more customers, such as factories, mines or data centres. We also changed the regulations to allow municipalities to procure power independently.”
