DA says independent power producers are the solution to tackle load-shedding

As power utility Eskom continues to plunge SA into darkness, the DA on Tuesday called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to engage it on its plan to tackle load-shedding.

The party said part of the solution includes government “getting out of the electricity generation business” to allow municipalities to purchase power from independent producers and for citizens to generate their own electricity.

It said it will be taking action through parliament to address the Eskom crisis and has blamed Ramaphosa for “failure” to fix the state-owned utility.

If Eskom woes remain ignored, the economy and livelihoods of South Africans will be most affected, said the party. 

“The president’s inability to fix Eskom is pushing SA ever closer to complete economic destruction which will decimate lives even further,” the DA said.

Eskom is implementing load-shedding until Saturday morning due to breakdowns in several power units. Stage 4 was suspended on Wednesday morning, with the utility announcing it will implement stage 3 load-shedding until Friday and stage 2 until Saturday.

Eskom said this is necessary to replenish emergency reserves.

Company CEO Andre de Ruyter on Wednesday painted a grim picture about the challenges faced by Eskom.

During a media briefing he bemoaned a lack of technical skills and shoddy delivery by contractors and municipalities that disregard instructions to implement load-shedding.

He attributed the current woes at the power utility to years of neglect, saying the current executive was not to blame for the state of Eskom.

“Lack of maintenance over many years has rendered the system susceptible to being unpredictable. This is not a charge that should be laid at the current executive team,” said de Ruyter.