For several days this week there has been speculation that President Cyril Ramaphosa will address the nation in response to the ongoing load-shedding crisis. And let’s not fool ourselves, the ongoing power outages and musical chairs between stages 4 and 6 are nothing short of a crisis.
The already constrained economy and households under pressure are finding themselves at near breaking point over the electricity shortage.
The nation has been waiting, anxiously, for any sign of leadership. Instead it turns out our perpetually surprised president is also anxious, but not for the same reasons.
On Thursday, a presidency spokesperson said Ramaphosa, “is working on a plan to reduce the scale of rolling blackouts”.
“Not just a plan, but a plan that can give some hope that even if the president does not say that load-shedding will end tomorrow, the nation must have a sense that there is a credible plan that’s been worked on. It is sound and there is a sense of urgency to implement that plan,” he said.
That Ramaphosa’s team is at this late stage still speaking about a plan should leave South Africans very concerned about ever getting out of a state of load-shedding.
Two things about this statement are concerning. The first is that Ramaphosa and his government is only coming up with a plan now, after almost a month of consistent daily load-shedding. One would have thought that, considering SA has experienced these types of power outages since 2008, the government would have had a plan in motion, at the execution stage already. Add to that evidence before the state capture commission of maladministration at Eskom and common knowledge for several years that there are design flaws with the Medupi and Kusile power stations that will leave the country with an electricity deficit.
That Ramaphosa’s team is at this late stage still speaking about a plan should leave South Africans concerned about ever getting out of a state of load-shedding.
The second worry is that the two people to whom Ramaphosa has entrusted energy supply and the management of state-owned entities, have not given the country any idea they know how and when we’ll be lifted out of this darkness.
Where are ministers Pravin Gordhan and Gwede Mantashe, who should be at the forefront of devising SA’s energy plan and ensuring agents in their departments jump into urgent action?
Independent power supplier agreements and offshore power ships have been bandied about as solutions since 2020, but we have yet to see the real benefits of these proposals and deals two years later.
The lack of urgency at cabinet level leaves South Africans growing tired and more anxious daily. In Ramaphosa’s cabinet it seems the lights are on, but nobody is home.
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