Pretoria - The ANC is facing mixed reaction over its proposed call for a national state of disaster over the energy crisis facing the country.
Opposition parties were quick to warn that if President Cyril Ramaphosa agreed to declare a national disaster, contingency plans must be put in place to avoid massive corruption and fraud similar to that during the outbreak of Covid-19.
Yesterday, the ANC, during its meeting briefing on the outcome of its party lekgotla which concluded on Monday, reiterated their call to Ramaphosa to declare a national state of disaster while plans were in place to eradicate load shedding before the end of the year.
Addressing the media, ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the declaration would require that the ANC reconnected with the communities and society, to find a common solution to the problem.
“We therefore call on all of society to work with us in progressively solving the challenge since it affects all of us, in particular the poor and the working class.
“Lekgotla also directed the Cabinet to study in detail the obstacles in delivering infrastructure, vandalism and counter-revolutionary tendencies, with a view to increase infrastructure investment while strengthening the capability and capacity of the state,” Mbalula said.
The ANC told the media an additional 46 000 MegaWatts (MW) was required to be added to the 26 000 MW current capacity.
The party also expressed concerns about vandalism of infrastructure which had posed a risk, compounded by the fact that six power stations were not in operation.
According to the ANC, their Energy Action Plan would be bolstered by lessons drawn by the lekgotla from the Energy Dialogue, presentations from technical experts and communities, as well as international best practices from India and Germany.
“In meeting this objective, the NEC agreed that all measures should be taken to protect, rebuild and save Eskom. The NEC lekgotla, in line with the presentation of Comrade Enoch Godongwana, noted that this will require a re-prioritisation of the already pressured national Budget which has been impacted by global dynamics such as the performance of the China and USA markets as well as the conflict in Ukraine,” he said.
Mbalula said the lekgotla noted that the Budget and the potential to raise capital has been negatively impacted by the municipal debt to Eskom, saying that together with national debt of R 4.8 trillion as well as the progressive social wage (which amounts to 58% of the budget), this has made the budgeting manoeuvring space quite tight.
“The lekgotla noted that there are billions which are projected to be underspent and called for the re-prioritisation of the funds to address the crisis.
“This can be complemented by the redesign of existing grants to optimise and aggregate infrastructure financing and capacities. Additionally, consideration should be given for the restructuring of the Eskom debt and the financing thereof,” Mbalula said.
He said among the other steps to be taken was the incentivising and subsidisation of solar rooftop panels for households and businesses, as well as accelerated maintenance, securing and building of the energy infrastructure.
Reacting, Freedom Front Plus (FF+) leader Pieter Groewald warned against the implementation of the state of disaster without any oversight.
Groenewald said such a solution to the electricity crisis must be very clearly defined.
“The same abuse of power, like with the Covid-19 state of disaster, must not repeat itself. States of disaster are not uncommon. Last year in KwaZulu-Natal, for example, a state of disaster was announced with the specific aim of alleviating the effects of the floods which caused severe damage.
“The FF+ wants the exact reasons and rules that will apply with such a state of disaster to be spelled out.
“It is important to prevent corruption from being committed on a large scale with funds that become easily accessible through special measures, like during the Covid-19 state of disaster,” he said.
DA spokesperson for Public Enterprises Ghaleb Cachalia shared the same sentiments that corruption should be averted, if the president agrees to the declaration.
“The key feature of the president’s current turnabout is ‘to ensure that sufficient financial resources are allocated to end load shedding’.
“It is for this reason that Parliament needs to fulfil the function of watchdog to ensure this does not become yet another opportunity for Covid-like misappropriations by key ANC ministers and officials,” Cachalia said.
Pretoria News