Electricity announcements: Please act now President Ramaphosa

14 February 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement that municipalities will now be allowed to purchase power from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) after the Democratic Alliance (DA) had been calling for this for many years.

However, we believe that President Ramaphosa’s announcements will mean nothing unless set timelines are urgently announced that will tell us when to expect delivery on promises. It will not be the first time that we have heard empty promises from the president.

Now is the time for action.

We, therefore, call on President Ramaphosa to immediately drop his government’s opposition to the City of Cape Town (CoCT) court case seeking Section 34 permission and grant Section 34 approval within the next 7 days.

The CoCT will then prove to be the case study of an excellently governed municipality procuring directly and keeping the lights on and the economy going.

If the president is serious, the national government will stop fighting the City in Court and start issuing these notices immediately.

We also call on the President to provide clarity on the following:

How he is going to deal with an obstructionist stance from the alliance partners, who have been adept at opposing all restructuring plans?

Will he clearly issue a rejection of Cosatu's financing plan?

When will Eskom begin unbundling?

Eskom is in a death spiral and every day that goes by without the implementation of tangible solutions is another day of rolling blackouts and immense damage to our economy.

We cannot wait any longer. Please act now, Mr. President.

Issued by Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 14 February 2020