Ramaphosa: AG to monitor state of disaster spending
President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national state of
disaster to deal with the country's energy crisis.
He said Cooperative Governance Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma gazetted the declaration on Thursday evening.
Ramaphosa made the announcement during his State of the Nation Address at Cape Town City Hall on Thursday evening.
"It will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take to support businesses in the food production, storage and retail supply chain, including for the roll-out of generators, solar panels and uninterrupted power supply.
"Where technically possible it will also enable us to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load shedding."
The president says it'll allow the government to fast-track energy projects and limit regulatory requirements.
"The auditor-general will be brought in to ensure continuous monitoring of expenditure to guard against any abuse of funds we need to attend to this disaster."
Ramaphosa also announced the intention to appoint a minister of electricity to the presidency.
READ: Ramaphosa declares power crisis a national disaster, to appoint ‘minister of load shedding’
"The minister will focus full-time and work with the Eskom board and management on ending load shedding and ensuring that the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay."
In response, Eskom said it will study the details of the declaration to get an understanding of what is required.
