ANC wants load shedding gone by end of year – Mbalula
As the country
fluctuates between stages 5 and 6 loadshedding on Tuesday afternoon and
Wednesday, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the governing party wants
to the rolling blackouts to be a thing of the past by the end of this year.
He spoke at a briefing on the outcomes of the national executive committee lekgotla held over the last few days.
Party president Cyril Ramaphosa said on Monday there was a broad consensus within the ANC that a state of disaster over the power crisis is needed.
Mbalula said the NEC has directed the cabinet to zone in on the problems at coal-fired power stations and ramp up efforts to add more megawatts to the grid.
“Presenting to the lekgotla, Comrade Pravin Gordhan, the Minister of Public Enterprises, said an additional 46000 megawatts was required to be added to the current capacity."
The ANC’s deputy secretary-general Nomvula Mokonyane says the declaration of a national state of disaster will allow the government to move faster in solving the load-shedding crisis.
"This is a call across the country that there has to be an extraordinary approach so that government can do extra extraordinary interventions beyond what exists in terms of the regulatory environment.
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“Also in terms of pulling everybody together, as we have done during Covid, so that we are able to respond to the needs of our communities but also to save the situation that has also exacerbated the issues of crime, loss of jobs, a decline of the economy and by the levels of load shedding."
