Declaring a state of disaster will help us end power cuts with speed, says Mbalula

The proposal for the declaration of a state of disaster supported by the ANC could end load shedding by the end of the year, according to party secretary-general Fikile Mbalula.

Giving a post-lekgotla briefing at Luthuli House on Tuesday, Mbalula, who was elaborating on the announcement made by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday night, said the thinking was that a disaster declaration would expedite resolving the load shedding crisis.

“Declaring a state of disaster will help us move with speed. The target of getting this [ending load shedding] done and dusted by the end of the year can even move faster if we’ve got all hands on deck, address issues of procurement, mobilise resources where they are needed for intervention, particularly when it comes to maintenance.

“Then we’ve got to have people with capacity, engineering and all of that, to advise the command centre. We’ll agree for a very long time we’ve been told a story that’s really illusive around dealing and doing away with load shedding. The reports sometimes are contradictory, and we can’t speak like we’re experts.

“We didn't speak like we were experts during the time of Covid-19. We had a team of experts under the health department who were telling and educating us about the virus, not just a group of politicians who came together and defined themselves as theologists.

"Our response to Covid-19 was scientifically driven, so our response to dealing with load shedding must be scientific and by practitioners,” Mbalula said.

The outcomes of the NEC lekgotla will give a line of march for a similar cabinet gathering, which will inform government’s priorities for the year and feed into Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address on February 9.

Meanwhile,  Ramaphosa’s announcement on Monday was met with mixed reaction from political parties, with the DA saying the ANC had acceded to allegations it had turned Eskom into a disaster, while the EFF completely rejected the proposal.

DA spokesperson for energy and minerals resources Kevin Mileham said with more than a decade of load shedding already having wiped billions [of rand] off the economy, the reality that the ANC turned the country’s electricity system into an unmitigated disaster appears to be finally sinking in.

“The DA re-emphasises our long-held position that any declaration of a state of disaster should be strictly ring-fenced around Eskom and the electricity sector. Most importantly, such a declaration must be subject to complete and transparent parliamentary oversight.

“Properly implemented, a ring-fenced and transparently-managed state of disaster can enable government to bypass its own self-imposed obstacles, bottlenecks and cost inflation in the form of unworkable labour legislation, localisation requirements and BEE,” Mileham said.

EFF national spokesperson Sinawo Thambo rejected the proposal, calling it “meaningless”.

“The call, which the incompetent Cyril Ramaphosa made at his political party meeting, is an empty pretense of doing something about the electricity crisis, and will not end the crippling electricity blackouts.

“The consideration of a state of national disaster is premised on greed, corruption and an uncontrollable desire to privatise Eskom without being held accountable. It will bring no permanent solution to the energy challenges we are facing, and must be rejected with the contempt it deserves,” Thambo said.