THE DA has proposed that Eskom be sold tariff-free diesel to alleviate South Africa's electricity crisis in the short term.

This was one of the four short-term solutions offered by DA MPs Natasha Mazzone and Gordon Mackay in parliament during the party's briefing on solving the country's electricity crisis.

The party also wants the country to issue rights to private companies to generate electricity through coal, gas and renewable energy sources.

Another alternative is to use ships which lie offshore and produce electricity.

These ships were built by a Turkish company and were already used by various countries.

As a final short-term solution, the DA proposed the use of additional open-cycle gas turbines from private companies.

In the medium term, the DA wants to consider investing in large-scale renewable projects.

It also wants the government to commission new coal and natural gas projects, including the requisite infrastructure, requiring a coastal terminal to be built, preferably at Saldanha or Richards Bay.

In the long term, the DA supports the government's efforts at providing hydropower from the Grand Inga project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Although the DA is in favour of building more nuclear power plants, it warned that current processes under way with, among others, Russian companies, were so shrouded in secrecy and driven by political motive that the potential for corruption was huge.

Mackay warned against the extent of the crisis being used to circumvent due process, opening the door for potential corruption.

Mazzone pointed at the ongoing problems faced in the construction of the Medupi and Khusile power plants, saying Eskom has squandered R3.7-billion buying substandard coal at the lack of maintenance of power plants.