DA leader John Steenhuisen has bemoaned Eskom’s ongoing stage 6 load-shedding, asking to meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss government plans to resolve the power crisis.

In a letter dated January 12, Steenhuisen asked for an “urgent meeting” to discuss the “deepening electricity crisis”.

He said he wanted to hear first hand from Ramaphosa why government refuses to implement “very obvious solutions” to the crisis.

“I would like to understand why your government has been so lethargic and conservative in its response to this catastrophe. The solutions to the electricity crisis are no secret and have been offered to you by industry experts, independent analysts and us, the DA,” said Steenhuisen to Ramaphosa.

According to Steenhuisen, the DA and energy experts proposed the following:

• unbundle Eskom into separate transmission, distribution and generation entities and open the market for electricity generation to private power producers;
• appoint skilled engineers to run the transmission, distribution and generation elements of Eskom, and stop all political interference;
• declare a ring-fenced state of disaster to exempt Eskom from all obstacles to efficient spending and rapid decision-making, such as localisation and BEE legislation;
• ramp up security at all key Eskom sites and deal decisively and harshly with saboteurs, and;
• do everything possible to enable private generation to come online soonest, such as lifting the 100MW cap.

“South Africans are desperate for a sign there could be an end to the crisis. Our own voters ask us daily what is being done and when they can expect some form of relief. I need to know what to tell them, and so I respectfully ask that you meet with me for a thorough discussion of the issue.”

Steenhuisen also criticised Eskom’s potential move from the department of public enterprises to the department of energy and mineral resources led by energy minister Gwede Mantashe.

“Nothing could better underscore the fact that while the ANC is in power, the electricity crisis is only going to get worse and worse. My advice to all households and businesses in South Africa, whether poor or rich, small or large, is to do everything you can to shield yourself from load-shedding,” he said.

“For as long as the ANC is in power, you will have less and less power. Eskom is in a death spiral and the government has no will nor intention to do anything about it because the ANC’s vast patronage network benefits hugely from the status quo.

“It is a brutally efficient extraction system that is plugged into South Africa’s energy system at every stage of the value chain and sucking it dry. South Africans, you are on your own.”