Durban - The National Freedom Party (NFP) called on the Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to end the load shedding crisis.
This follows stage six load shedding being implemented earlier this week.
Ahmed Munzoor Shaik Emam, leader of the NFP in Parliament, said the party was also concerned about talk of possible permanent stage 2 load shedding.
“This is outrageous. We hear the president talking daily about how we need to boost the economy to create jobs. However, stage 6 load shedding is not a conducive investment climate. We will not be able to fix our economy if we cannot fix Eskom. However, this administration seems to have no plan.”
Emam added that continuous load shedding would cripple an already struggling economy.
“In July this year, Alexander Forbes chief economist Isaah Mhlanga estimated that prolonged stage 6 load shedding would wipe over R4 billion from the GDP for each day it continues.
“We cannot normalise this ineptitude. As South Africans, we need to ask ourselves how much more of this inadequacy we can take before we draw the line and say enough is enough. Evidently, the government has no plan to fix this crisis.”
Emam said that the NFP believes that the government needs to allow those who wish to go off the grid to do so without any charge, as it will reduce the demand on Eskom.
“This will give them the space to fix this crisis. We cannot have punitive measures in place for people who want to go off the grid.”
Emam added that the NFP calls on the president, Minister of Public Enterprises Pravin Gordhan and the Eskom CEO André de Ruyter to be transparent with the South African public about how long this crisis will take to fix and what is required to fix it.
“It is evident that the only plan this government has to solve the Eskom crisis is to throw money at it. However, history has taught us that Eskom has systemic challenges that require vision and leadership, as well as strategic investment.”