The ANC is mulling over declaring a state of emergency on Eskom and the energy sector in the country.
This is after Eskom plunged the country into stage six load-shedding for a second consecutive week.
It was said the already precarious state of the power utility was worsened by the industrial strike two weeks ago.
There’s a possibility of declaring a state of emergency because of Eskom’s troubles.
— ANC NEC member
The latest bout of load-shedding has plunged the country into power cuts for up to four hours at a time, with some areas experiencing this more than twice a day.
The ANC’s virtual national executive committee has finally received a report from public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan.
In their discussions, the party is said to have considered taking tough measures to bring Eskom back to life.
“There’s a possibility of declaring a state of emergency because of Eskom’s troubles,” an NEC member told TimesLIVE Premium.
It is not clear what a state of emergency would entail, as those details are still sketchy and were expected to be fleshed out in the meeting today.
Two other sources downplayed the call for a state of emergency as “politicking and grandstanding” by the so-called RET faction, opposed to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s leadership.
According to sources, Gordhan was met with some hostility on Monday when he finally made his presentation to the NEC.
“Jeff [Radebe] lashed him big time, we were supposed to get the presentation on Saturday, he was not ready. Yesterday [Sunday] he was not ready. Today at 9am he was not ready and the meeting had to be adjourned for him to be ready at 11am. He is a delinquent this man,” said one source.
In his report, Gordhan is said to have told the highest structure of the governing party in between conferences that the effects of corruption and state capture are still felt at the power utility.
“People are rejecting this man’s presentation because he’s still talking about corruption and state capture,” the insider said.
Gordhan had taken to the podium to account to the governing party on the state of Eskom.
Some members of the party have voiced their displeasure at Gordhan’s lack of accountability to the party. They complained the party was supposed to have been made aware of the looming disaster that is stage six.
Another NEC source said Gordhan rehashed “the same old stories”.
“He addressed parliament on October 15 2020, and nothing has happened,” the source said about the interventions proposed by the minister.
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