ANC Youth League National Youth Task Team (NYTT) spokesperson Sizophila Mkhize says enough is enough with constant blackouts.

Mkhize told TimesLIVE on Thursday the latest rollouts, which saw Eskom ramp up load-shedding to stage 6, should anger South Africans into taking action.

She said the youth league is of the view that the time for talk is over and it will mobilise young people from across political affiliations to discuss the effects of load-shedding on millions who bear the brunt of blackouts. 

“Load-shedding is taking us back. We're done speaking to [the ANC leadership] nicely. We will mobilise young people and if we get suspended from the ANC, so be it. If we are accused of bringing the ANC into disrepute, so be it,” said Mkhize. 

Mkhize said political parties must put aside their differences to confront this issue. 

“We are not fighting factional battles. We are fighting against load-shedding. South Africans are deliberately put in the dark by the incompetent leadership,” she said. 

Mkhize said Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter and public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan must be held accountable for their role in the crisis at Eskom. 

She also laid the blame at the feet of the ANC, saying it failed to act decisively on the issue. 

“You would expect the ANC to call for action against the CEO of Eskom and Gordhan as people who consider themselves to be leaders of society,” said Mkhize, adding that the youth league is equally responsible though its input has been largely ignored by the ruling party. 

On Tuesday, Gordhan said Eskom was forced to ramp up load-shedding to stage 6 after staff were unable to work due to alleged intimidation and threats from employees who had embarked on an illegal strike over wages. 

He said this issue was later resolved after consultations between the unions and Eskom management.

Mkhize said Gordhan's excuse does not hold. 

“They are hiding behind the strike at Eskom. They are incompetent because even when the workers are back at work, we will still have load-shedding. The biggest problem with Eskom is its leadership. It's high time that South Africans lead themselves.”