This week's edition of President Cyril Ramaphosa's weekly newsletter to the nation hasn't received the best reception as the country endures another round of power cuts due to Eskom's problems with electricity generation.
In it, Ramaphosa said when he visited Medupi power station for the first time two weeks ago, he was struck by how huge it is and called it “a fitting symbol of the importance of our state-owned enterprises”.
“Despite the depth of current challenges, none of our SOEs is lost. They can all be saved. But it will take extraordinary effort and, in some cases, tough decisions,” said Ramaphosa.
He also said SA's suite of major SOEs, despite severe financial difficulties and operational problems, were great assets.
“Although many of these companies are deeply in debt, they remain valuable state assets with immense capacity. We will not allow any of these strategic entities to fail,” said Ramaphosa.
Cyril Ramaphosa admits to visiting Medupi only once, and Mzansi has questions
This week's edition of President Cyril Ramaphosa's weekly newsletter to the nation hasn't received the best reception as the country endures another round of power cuts due to Eskom's problems with electricity generation.
In it, Ramaphosa said when he visited Medupi power station for the first time two weeks ago, he was struck by how huge it is and called it “a fitting symbol of the importance of our state-owned enterprises”.
“Despite the depth of current challenges, none of our SOEs is lost. They can all be saved. But it will take extraordinary effort and, in some cases, tough decisions,” said Ramaphosa.
He also said SA's suite of major SOEs, despite severe financial difficulties and operational problems, were great assets.
“Although many of these companies are deeply in debt, they remain valuable state assets with immense capacity. We will not allow any of these strategic entities to fail,” said Ramaphosa.
Taking to social media, many reacted to Ramaphosa admitting it was his first visit to the power station.
They questioned why he had not visited before, when he was the deputy president or appointed by former president Jacob Zuma to oversee the turnaround of the power utility in 2014.
SowetanLIVE sister publication TimesLIVE reported that Ramaphosa was given the task by Zuma at the height of load shedding.
Here is a snapshot of some reactions: