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DA leader John Steenhuisen. PHOTO: Gallo Images/Die Burger/Jaco Marais
- The leader of the official opposition has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa, expressing his concerns about load shedding.
- DA leader John Steenhuisen has asked for an "urgent" meeting.
- Eskom raised load shedding to Stage 6 on Wednesday.
DA leader John Steenhuisen has asked to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss ongoing load shedding, and government plans to resolve the power crisis.
Steenhuisen shared the letter he wrote to Ramaphosa, dated 12 January 2023, on Thursday. In the letter, he asks for an "urgent meeting" to discuss the "deepening electricity crisis".
"I would like to understand the reasons for the failure, to date, to implement meaningful reforms to the energy sector, and I would like an opportunity to put forward, once again, the DA's recommendations to overcome this crisis," reads the letter.
On Wednesday, Eskom announced Stage 6 load shedding until further notice, with the power utility saying this was a result of breakdowns at its power stations.
In his letter, Steenhuisen said the announcement of Stage 6 load shedding posed a threat to the country's economic and social stability. He added that the country did not have a "built-in resilience" in its economy or society to survive the disruptions.
READ | Load shedding is an attack on SA, Naledi Pandor says
"I would like to understand why your government has been so lethargic and conservative in its response to this catastrophe. The solutions to the electricity crisis are no secret and have been offered to you by industry experts, independent analysts and by us, the Democratic Alliance," he said.
South Africans are desperate for a sign that there could be an end to the crisis. Our own voters ask us daily what is being done and when they can expect some form of relief. I need to know what to tell them, as [such] I respectfully ask that you meet me for a thorough discussion of the issue.
In a statement, Steenhuisen added that while the ANC was in power, the electricity crisis would get worse.
"But instead of announcing progress on any of these, Ramaphosa's first act in his second term as ANC president was to deal yet another blow to Eskom by announcing that the utility will be moved from the Ministry of Public Enterprises to the Ministry of Energy, under coal dinosaur Gwede Mantashe," he said.
However, this was not Ramaphosa's call, but a resolution of the ANC's 55th national elective conference.
In a press briefing with journalists on Thursday afternoon about Ramaphosa's upcoming engagements, Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said he was not aware of the letter.
READ | 'Irrational and disastrous': DA slams proposal to move Eskom to Mantashe's Ministry of Energy
Magwenya added that, as a standard practice, Ramaphosa did meet with leaders of political parties represented in Parliament, and that he had done so last year ahead of the announcement of the national energy plan. He said should there be a meeting with political parties, it would take on a similar form.
Magwenya said:
Specifically, as things stand, I am not aware of a letter from Mr Steenhuisen, maybe our office has received it but that information has not reached me. But I think if we just focus on the principle more broadly, is the president available to meet with leaders of political parties on matters of national interest? The answer is yes.
Speaking at an economic dialogue hosted by the ANC as part of its events leading up to its 111th-anniversary celebrations last week in Mangaung, the party's national chairperson, Mantashe, said the electricity crisis had created a dent in public and investor confidence and could not be allowed to continue unabated.
"We can't go on like this. When we talk about an energy crisis, there are a few things that we must resolve. One of those is whether load shedding is an energy crisis, a baseload crisis, or a crisis caused by disregard," said Mantashe.
In his January 8 speech, Ramaphosa also said load shedding was harming the party's public standing and would form part of the governing party's priority in 2023. He said ending load shedding was one of seven priorities of the party.
He said government and Eskom needed to work at ensuring the return of additional units at the power utility to clamp down on power cuts, while the government also needed to implement its plans of sourcing other forms of energy besides coal.
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