ALL HANDS ON DECK AS POWER CRISIS DEEPENS

KGOSIENTSO “Sputla” Ramokgopa, the Minister in the Presidency responsible for Electricity, says he remains confident that the load shedding crisis will be resolved.

The former Tshwane mayor has been engaging Eskom’s management at power station level, as well as unions and workers to affirm the government’s confidence in the men and women on the ground “who work tirelessly to resolve the crisis”.

At the same time, the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard that the electricity crisis has cost the country more than R1.2 trillion – with the 2023 figures yet to be added.

To paint a picture of this loss to the economy, the court heard, this amount far exceeds the country’s budget allocated to police services, courts, prisons and other essential services. The R1.2 trillion would have been better spent on the SAPS, courts and prisons, especially for a country considered to be among the most crime-ridden in the world.

In January, Eskom board chairperson Mpho Makwana said they wanted to implement permanent stage 2 and 3 load shedding over the next 24 months.

Thus, South Africa sits with a deepening load shedding problem that is likely to last for the next two years, while the economy continues to bleed.

The downward spiral continues; if this means that heads have to roll – including that of President Cyril Ramaphosa, as demanded by the EFF during the national shutdown on Monday – then this is what has to happen.

In essence, it’s all hands on deck, and South Africa has to do everything possible to keep the lights on.