The current energy crisis is not a result of historic imbalances, but symptomatic of issues facing the country today – and for the sake of the economy, the power issues need to be addressed urgently.
This is the word from Mmusi Maimane, deputy federal chairperson and Parliamentary leader of the Democratic Alliance, who states: “For President Jacob Zuma to say that the ANC must ‘not feel guilty about the energy issue’ because it is Apartheid’s fault, is to deny the very reason why South Africa faces an electricity crisis today.
“The inequality we witness in our society every day is testament to Apartheid’s devastating effect. No one can dispute this,” he adds. “But the fact is the electricity crisis and the threat of economic shutdown it brings is of the ANC’s own making.
“South Africa is literally running on diesel today, burning 140-million litres a month to keep the lights on.
“And as we speak, Eskom is broke and cannot afford the R1-billion worth of diesel it needs for February. We are on the doorstep of an economic shutdown.”
Maimane points out that about 1-million South Africans have lost their jobs since load-shedding began in 2008, costing the economy R300-billion to date.
“Load-shedding is job-shedding. And many hard-working South Africans will continue to lose their jobs as long as those in power deny the crisis we face.”
Maimane adds that the White Paper on energy policy warned as far back as 1998 that South Africa would face an electricity crisis if it did not act.
“Had new power stations been built by deadline five years ago, there would be no load-shedding today,” he states. “President Zuma can no longer use the evil of Apartheid to justify steps his government could have taken to avoid this crisis.
“The fact is the ANC has profited directly from delays in building these power stations. We have not forgotten ANC front company Chancellor Houses’ stake in the R38,5-billion boiler contract at Medupi.
“And there are even bigger profits on the way for President Zuma and the ANC as we are led down the path of a R1-trillion nuclear energy deal, a mega arms deal in the making.”
Maimane adds that South Africans are demanding solutions, not denialism from those in power.
“There is an urgent need to give independent power producers the opportunity to contribute electricity to the grid,” he states. “We also need to accelerate the Medupi and Kusile projects, while advancing the rollout of renewable power projects and a licencing regime for natural gas exploration.
“In doing so, President Zuma needs to abandon the Russian nuclear deal that will take a decade to provide any power and force future generations of South Africans to pay the debt.
“This is what South Africans need to hear from the President when he delivers his State of the Nation Address in February if we are to avoid an economic shutdown.”
