As the energy crisis in South Africa continues to worsen, calls have been made for President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a state of disaster.
The Confederation of Employers in South Africa (Cofesa) is one of the groups calling on Ramaposa to declare a national state of disaster and to announce measures to contain the devastating effects of the energy crisis on the economy.
Cofesa said a package of measures to mitigate its impact on all sectors was requested to avoid its significant and potentially lasting impact on the economy when many businesses had not recovered after the Covid-19 pandemic, with 45% of the population going hungry.
“The energy crisis has dire effects on trade, industry and consumers. Load shedding causes food shortages and a national fast-food company has had to close outlets due to lack of food to sell. Cofesa called on the government for financial relief for companies and employees to mitigate this crisis,” Cofesa said on Monday.
“We request a special dispensation for companies in distress to ensure they remain viable and wage payments for employees through the Temporary Employee Relief Scheme to enable companies to pay employees during the crisis and avoid retrenchment. Numerous interventions to prevent the crisis have failed. Cofesa now calls for the engagement of business leaders for a holistic approach.”
As South Africans face Stage-6 blackouts “for the foreseeable future”, the country’s leadership remained silent on any plan to solve a national disaster that threatened the stability of the nation.
When South Africans are wanting to know what the government is doing to deal with load shedding, there is silence. There has been no clear message from the president on how it is going to be solved.
The president’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, said Ramaphosa deeply regretted the energy crisis and called for solutions to be found urgently.
Eskom group chief operating officer, Jan Oberholzer, warned of the possibility of unplanned outages adding to the burden. The country had lost 155 days of power since last January, and burned millions of litres of diesel on open-cycle gas turbines.
“Due to the vulnerability and unpredictability of the power system, coupled with the major capital projects, maintenance and major repairs to be executed are starting in the next few months, but the risk of continued load shedding remains quite high,” Oberholzer said.
Energy economist Ted Blom said that, with the correct team in place and no political interference, it could take three to six months to turn Eskom around.
Meanwhile, DA leader John Steenhuisen has asked for an urgent meeting with Ramaphosa over the growing energy crisis, and the state of Eskom.
Steenhuisen made the request after the country was placed on Stage 6 load shedding indefinitely, which is a concern for businesses and ratepayers.
He said Eskom was in a death spiral and the government had no will to do anything about it because the ANC’s vast patronage network benefited hugely from the status quo.
“I have written to President Ramaphosa to request an urgent meeting about Eskom and the growing power crisis, which now has South Africa on Stage 6 until further notice,” Steenhuisen said.
“I want to hear from him first-hand why his government refuses to implement the very obvious solutions to this crisis. These solutions have not changed,” he said.
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