South Africans have weighed in on the government's battle plan to deal with the crippling energy crisis, questioning some of the interventions and saying it has confused them further.
SA has experienced rolling blackouts for weeks after unprotected strike action and other factors left the power grid in a critical position.
Finally responding to mounting calls for him to address the situation, President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday announced his government's plan to “fix Eskom and improve its existing fleet of power stations”.
Among the proposals are to increase Eskom's budget for maintenance and new green energy projects. The power utility will also construct its first solar and battery storage projects at Komati, Majuba, Lethabo and several other power stations.
Eskom will also aim to recruit skilled personnel, acquire surplus energy from independent power producers and private entities, and import electricity from neighbouring countries that have surplus power.
Taking to social media, South Africans weighed in on the interventions:
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#FamilyMeeting
— Thato (@Thato49137868) July 25, 2022
Not our president saying our parents should invest in solar panels while they are already being moered by tax , varsity fees and let's not mention 1K is no longer enough to buy groceries pic.twitter.com/HtaSwIoJcY
The purpose of this address, is to confuse us further #FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/fOi6Rw7ayU
— Junior Attorney⚖️ (@MakutuMakutu) July 25, 2022
I have a feeling we will have to pay more for electricity to support this fix eskom #FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/cfpMAyPwB1
— Sabz💋 (@SubZz000) July 25, 2022
"we call on all South Africans to use electricity sparingly." How do we use something that we don't have sparingly? #FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/KUKz8MvGii
— Raised in Africa💫 (@paballo_patsa) July 25, 2022
Am I the only one who does not understand what the President is talking about?🤔#FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/Ecr7GnloHj
— David Selemogo (@MrDee_deza) July 25, 2022
RamaPrivatisation #FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/9kptx4r5YO
— Zahara stan (@Lungile_Se) July 25, 2022
"Fellow South Africans" brings back such bad memories.#FamilyMeeting
— Thendo Muloiwa (@MuloiwaThendo) July 25, 2022
Kanti all this Eskom information, isn't it that the management of Eskom should hold it's own media briefing and relay all this information.... Ucyril yena ungenaphi? #FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/2kNc8XK7oj
— Mosheki Daniel (@MoshekiD) July 25, 2022
Imagine investing in a solar power roof in a country where crime and corruption are uncontrollable, this president is a joke #FamilyMeeting #Ramaphosamustfall pic.twitter.com/9kmLgKrPeb
— JUSTICE I (@JUSTICE_ITANI) July 25, 2022
FFS!!! That could’ve been an email! 😭😭
— Dawson (@miss_a_dawson) July 25, 2022
Are there clear timelines of these deliverables?
— Nhlaka (@u_nhlakaa) July 25, 2022
Also..do you think the President at a certain point in time will give us an update of “Planned vs actual”?
Is this a whishlist or a realistic plan? What is a root cause of these issues? Uvele ubone ukuthi weeeh
Basically this is what the Eskom board been has been up to:
— Sebolelo Khanyela (@SK_Khanyela) July 25, 2022
#FamilyMeeting pic.twitter.com/XWjjl7lWuR
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