Africa-Press – South-Africa. While the DA wants the immediate axing of Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, the EFF is gunning for Eskom CEO André de Ruyter and COO Jan Oberholzer.
This is but one difference between the two largest opposition parties’ proposals to end the current energy crisis, with the role the state should play being the biggest bone of contention.
On Tuesday, DA leader John Steenhuisen presented the DA’s approach, saying there was no doubt that the energy crisis was now far worse than it had ever been.
He lamented the lack of urgency shown by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Mantashe and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Steenhuisen said Ramaphosa launched his latest plan to deal with load shedding in late July. The DA was running an implementation tracker of this plan, and according to Steenhuisen, no part of the plan was on track.
He said the “so-called crisis committee” had made no progress and should be taken off the job immediately.
“But they cannot be replaced by another set of ANC politicians. We cannot repeat the same actions and hope for a different outcome,” Steenhuisen said.
“This crisis calls for outside industry experts to lead the way.”
The DA proposed that Ramaphosa immediately dissolves the National Energy Crisis Committee, and appoints in its place an outside industry expert to oversee the implementation of the Energy Response Plan.
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“It is critical that this person is both apolitical and a leading expert in the energy field, and that he or she is sufficiently empowered to do whatever it takes to stabilise our current generation fleet and bring additional generation on board, without having their hands tied by the red tape that has held our recovery back until now.”
Steenhuisen said the Energy Response Plan was dead in the water in the hands of the president’s crisis committee because it had become the scene of a political turf war between ministers and ministries.
Steenhuisen said:
He said Ramaphosa should hand over the plan to someone who could manage it.
“President Ramaphosa has, in some way or another, been in charge of overseeing Eskom’s recovery and the stabilisation of our electricity supply for the past 12 years – first during his time as deputy president when he was tasked with overseeing the turnaround of state-owned enterprises, followed by the past four-and-a-half years as president,” Steenhuisen said.
“He’s had his hands on the wheel for over a decade, and in that time our energy situation has deteriorated sharply. He needs to face the sober reality that neither he nor his ministers are capable of solving this predicament. They have lost control, and our country is spiralling into disaster.”
The DA has proposed the immediate declaration of a ring-fenced state of disaster around Eskom and South Africa’s electricity supply to allow for the circumvention of the current stifling web of legislation that prevents the acquisition of additional power from independent power producers.
Secondly, the party said, Mantashe should be fired immediately. “He is responsible for the dysfunctional regulatory framework that has prevented our energy sector’s recovery; he has repeatedly blocked renewable energy projects; he has allowed the Risk Mitigation Power Producer Procurement Programme to stall in the middle of the crisis; and he cannot see beyond coal. He must go, and he must go now,” said Steenhuisen.
The DA also wanted the establishment of a parliamentary ad hoc committee on the energy crisis.
“For too many years, this ANC government and its presidents were allowed to declaw Parliament and turn it into a rubber stamp of ANC policies and programmes. That has to end now.”
Steenhuisen referred to the DA-led Western Cape government’s plan to deal with the “worst-case load shedding scenarios” to ensure that critical services remained operational even during high-stage load shedding.
“I encourage President Ramaphosa to study this plan because there are many aspects of it that can be rolled out across the country. South Africans need to know that someone has thought of and planned for every eventuality.”
Ramaphosa under fire from opposition parties over SA’s energy crisis
Steenhuisen said the Energy Response Plan had to have timelines and firm deliverables.
He said if Ramaphosa heeded the DA’s call and appointed an outside expert to lead the recovery, this person would also have to facilitate a working relationship between Eskom, independent power producers and local governments.
“Because, for the foreseeable future, Eskom is still going to be central to our recovery, and it is critical that they are given the support they need.”
This is where the DA’s approach diverges drastically from the EFF’s. While the DA wanted less state involvement, the EFF wanted power generation and supply to remain firmly within the state.
“We have consistently warned against the immoral and dishonest intention of handing over South Africa’s energy generation sovereignty to the greedy establishment that will influence all spheres of life, including the future of the country’s political future (sic),” read an EFF statement released on Monday evening.
The EFF called for the immediate axing of De Ruyter, Oberholzer and the rest of the Eskom board.
“The incompetence and arrogance of Eskom executives has plunged South Africa into a perpetual and unwarranted darkness that is killing businesses and livelihoods. The collapse of Eskom and the failure to [provide] dependable and consistent energy supply are meant to render the country’s electricity utility redundant and useless.”
The EFF warned that the failure to fire De Ruyter, Oberholzer and the board would “require” them to “take more radical steps to ensure competent, dependable and fit people are in charge at Eskom” to end the energy crisis.
“Sustainable and practical long-term solution to South Africa is balanced energy mix that include state owned and control generation through nuclear, renewable, coal and other sources (sic),” read the EFF statement.
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