Johannesburg - Scores of social media users have questioned President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cancellation of his Davos trip amid stage 6 load shedding. Some said no amount of spinning will change the truth about the Eskom crisis.
A social media user by the name of Nivashni Nair said she had spent more than 48 hours without power.
“My chest literally ached as we threw away the contents of our chest freezer today. More than 48 hours without electricity and no word on when it will come back out. To watch food and money being thrown away has given me anxiety,” she said.
Ramaphosa was scheduled to travel to Davos for the World Economic Forum summit, an annual meeting of world leaders, business and civil society which runs from Monday until Friday.
Ramaphosa was due to promote South Africa as an investment destination, a position many citizens believe we are drifting away from due to the challenges facing the country.
The country has once again been plunged into stage 6 power cuts amid rolling power cuts every day of the week since the start of the year.
The Presidency said Ramaphosa was convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in Parliament, the national energy crisis committee and the board of Eskom.
Presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya took to social media to make the announcement, saying Ramaphosa was convening with leaders of political parties represented in Parliament, the National Energy Crisis Committee and the Eskom board.
“Ramaphosa has already engaged with the leadership of Eskom and the National Energy Crisis Committee, and those meetings will continue. More briefing sessions to key stakeholders will take place during this coming week,” Magwenya said.
The power utility implemented power cuts last Wednesday after it reported that 11 units had broken down at various power stations. It said the escalation was needed to preserve its limited generation reserves.
Eskom has been struggling to keep the lights on, with the country surpassing 200 days of blackouts last year.
The blackouts have also seen energy regulator Nersa hiking electricity tariffs by nearly 19%.
The Star