By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has called for more “urgency and speed” in the implementation of the national energy plan.
On Wednesday, Eskom announced Stage 6 load shedding until further notice, with the power utility saying this resulted from breakdowns at its power stations.
Addressing the media at the Union Buildings on Thursday, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa “deeply regrets” the situation which has placed the country on stage 6.
Magwenya said: “The president acknowledges the frustration of households, parents, and learners who have commenced the school calendar year facing power shortages. The devastation to small businesses and the adverse impact on the economy remains severe for South Africa’s recovering economy.”
He said Ramaphosa is occupied with “finding a sustainable solution” to load shedding.
Ramaphosa had been receiving constant briefings on Eskom and the rollout of the National Energy Plan.
Magwenya said last month that Ramaphosa had convened a national energy crisis committee with ministers and various technical workstream leads and that further engagements to review the situation and find “urgent measures” to address load shedding are scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
He added: Whilst the president acknowledged some of the progress made in the executing elements of the National Energy Plan, he further demanded more urgency and speed in the implementation of all priority areas and actions laid out in the National Energy Plan.
Magwenya said despite the ongoing load shedding the National Energy Crisis Committee work streams had made progress in several areas.
These included, he said, an independent team that has been put together to diagnose challenges at power stations. The team, which includes former power station managers, is working with Eskom management and the board of Eskom.
According to Magwenya, the team has looked at power stations such as Kusile, Tutuka, and Kriel.
Meanwhile DA leader John Steenhuisen has written to Ramaphosa to request an urgent meeting on Eskom, as the country entered an indefinite phase of Stage 6 load shedding.
Steenhuisen says he wants to hear from Ramaphosa first-hand why the government refuses to implement obvious solutions to fixing the problem, such as ramping up security at power stations and unbundling the entity.
He says Eskom is in a “death spiral” and the government has no intention to do anything about it because of ANC politics.
The DA leader says instead of announcing progress, Ramaphosa’s first act after winning a second term as ANC president was to deal another blow to Eskom by announcing that it will be moved from Public Enterprises to the Ministry of Energy.
Steenhuisen says the DA and energy experts alike have been proposing solutions like the unbundling of Eskom to open the market for private producers, as well as appointing skilled engineers to run the different units.
“I want to hear from him first-hand why is government refusing to implement the very obvious solutions to this crisis these solutions have not changed.”
Steenhuisen says the electricity crisis is only going to get worse and his advice to households and businesses, whether rich or poor, is to do everything possible to shield themselves from load shedding.