If Ramaphosa is serious about power stations sale then Eskom should start advertising today

4 March 2020

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcement on Tuesday that he is open to the idea of selling some Eskom power stations to private investors.

While addressing the South African National Editors Forum (Sanef) yesterday, President Ramaphosa said that selling off Eskom power stations “will help the local communities in those towns [where Eskom power stations are sold to private investors and], it will secure jobs”.

In October last year, Finance Minister Tito Mboweni's economic policy paper proposed selling some coal power stations to raise funds to the tune R450 billion -  at the time President Ramaphosa argued that his government had no intentions of selling off power stations. This U-Turn on the part of the President is, therefore, a welcomed move in the right direction.

The President’s announcement, however, cannot simply be another case of him blowing hot air. President Ramaphosa should put his money where his mouth is, expedite the process and urge Eskom to start advertising their power stations immediately.

The President should stand firm in his change of heart and not be deterred by the likes of Deputy President David Mabuza and Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe – who would much rather see South Africans continue to be dependent on Eskom, despite the entity’s inability to keep the lights on.

The DA, where we govern, has proven that South Africans do not need Eskom’s monopoly to generate power. The Steenbras hydropower station and Kelvin power station are prime examples of how independent power stations can bring stability to the grid:

The DA-run City of Cape Town is the only city in the country that owns and operates a large hydro-electric pumped storage scheme - the 160MW Steenbras hydropower station manages the city’s power load and thus lessen the effects of Eskom's load-shedding.

Kelvin power stations, the only large privately-owned coal power plant in the country has the capacity to provide enough electricity to fulfill up to 12 percent of Johannesburg’s energy demands.

Energy security in South Africa is possible without Eskom’s monopoly. It is time to give power to the people and sell off Eskom’s power stations.

The ball is in the President’s court and we will judge him by what he does, not only by what he says.

Issued by Ghaleb Cachalia,DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 4 March 2020