WATCH | Malema's alarming speech on electricity crisis and 'gullible' South Africans: 'We are going into darkness'

“In the next two weeks — we've been warned — there's going to be darkness. We are almost at the point of grid collapse and it's a reality South Africans must know. We are heading to darkness and ANC politicians are continuing business as usual as if we are not in a crisis. We are in a deep, deep, deep crisis,” said EFF leader Julius Malema in Johannesburg on Monday afternoon.

Malema gave an alarming prediction which could have been plucked out of a scary dystopian novel of what could take place if South Africa's electricity grid collapses.

“Cellphone networks will not work. Water — even if we have it — we won't receive it because it needs electricity. Nothing is going to function. We are heading for a disaster worse than Covid was. No one will go to work.

“The dead will have to be buried the same day because there will not be fridges to keep them in,” he said.

Despite rising fears that a total grid collapse could be imminent, a range of experts dismiss it as a remote possibility that would require highly improbable circumstances such as the simultaneous failure of all South Africa’s power sources.

Hein Vosloo, a former senior manager in Eskom’s transmission department, said a complete collapse was “almost impossible” but could happen “under a set of extraordinary circumstances”.

However, Malema was adamant of his prediction.

“We warned you. We went to the streets because we knew this was coming and history will absolve us. We were called names, we were ridiculed, we were insulted. Police and the army were called on us for trying to protect us from where we are.”

The EFF leader was referring to the party's attempted “national shutdown march” on March 20, the day before Human Rights Day, where the EFF called for the resignation of President Cyril Ramaphosa and an end to load-shedding.

Their predication of South Africa coming to a standstill did not come to light, with many ridiculing the party for its attempt to shut the country down. Now Malema is taking aim at the ANC for the failings of Eskom.

“They are just calling it stage 10 for nice words. The reality is it is darkness. And there's not going to be darkness of 12 hours or 24 hours and it comes back — no. At times it is going to take three to four days. At times it will take a week, at times it will take a month without electricity. The whole ANC leadership must go.

After voicing his concerns, Malema offered solutions, which included bringing back Eskom employees who were accused of corruption at the state capture investigation in 2022.

“Brian [Molefe] must come back, [Matshela] Koko must come back and all those Indian, coloured and white engineers. If they love this country, they must not ask for money. They must not ask for payment. They must come and rescue South Africa.

“Tshwane is where it is today because of Sputla [now minister of electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa]. South Africans, you are so gullible. You are so gullible [if you think] that a person who collapses a municipality can restore such a complex matter as electricity. He himself said he doesn't know anything. He's relying on those people who have been there failing us. So why must I even ask for more power for him. For what?

“These solutions require no new minister. First, we don't want a minister of electricity. Take the electricity from public enterprise and put it in energy. That's where it's supposed to be. Its policy direction and its business [must] be run by one department and one minister. Let Eskom be under one political leadership and political authority so that they know they have no option but to take this political direction. So we don't support the minister of electricity. He must go.

“The appointment of the minister of electricity was actually bluffing. It was Ramaphosa trying to show us that he's doing something about the electricity crisis when he was actually not doing anything. The biggest achievement Sputla has achieved since he arrived today was to go to all power stations. How can that be an achievement? And then that becomes the biggest ANC victory, as minister of electricity has done something that no minister has ever done in a short space of time, and that is visiting power stations. After that visit do we have electricity? No, the situation has worsened.”

In the wide-ranging briefing Malema also addressed the US ambassador who said SA was colluding with Russia, zama zamas [illegal miners] and the EFF's non-coalition with the ANC.

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