Stop relying on ‘charity from China’, govt told on arrival of generators

Build One South Africa (Bosa) says government must stop relying on "charity from China to fix its mess", following the delivery of 450 gasoline generators from China as part of a pledge on Thursday.

In August, the Chinese government donated R170m in emergency power equipment and made available a grant of about R500m as development assistance to alleviate South Africa's energy crisis.

Electricity minister Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa at the time said South Africa would get gasoline and diesel generators, power supply vehicles and off-grid photovoltaic energy storage supply systems ranging from 6KW to 200KW.

“We are going to get 552 of those units and 450 are already on the way. It means more than 500 public facilities are going to have access to uninterrupted alternative power supply," he said at the time.

Bosa welcomed the donation and much-needed relief these generators would bring to schools, clinics, police stations and hospitals to power coalface service delivery to citizens – in line with Bosa’s legal victory on this very matter.

"At the beginning of May this year, in a landmark court case led by Bosa and others, the government was ordered to reinstate electricity supply to all public hospitals, schools and police stations, during load-shedding within 60 days. It was a sure victory for South Africans who suffer daily due to persistent electricity cuts.

"Government cannot rely on charity from China to fix its mess."

Bosa said South Africa was legally obliged and responsible for delivering uninterrupted electricity to crucial sectors. The party said it was therefore unjustifiable that seven months later, the minister responsible for executing this court order, Pravin Gordhan, was still appealing that judgment.

"Rather than working day and night to ensure our schools, hospitals, clinics and police stations receive uninterrupted electricity, Gordhan is spending millions of rands of public money on legal fees to keep the lights off and retain the status quo."

Bosa said "every death at a hospital without power, every crime that cannot be reported or investigated due to load-shedding, and every child’s education that is affected by classrooms in darkness, is on his hands".

"If Gordhan and his cabinet colleagues can receive uninterrupted electricity at their luxurious homes, then there is no excuse for hospitals, schools, clinics and police stations to go without."

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