More rolling blackouts, with no end in sight, a national disgrace

17 November 2021

South Africans have had enough with load shedding and constant rolling blackouts, which are a national disgrace.

The failure of the ANC government, and Eskom, to resolve our electricity crisis through extra generation capacity and opening the grid is one of the greatest governance blunders imaginable.

Now, as we today face more blackouts for the next four days, once more our economy will be battered and jobs will be shed.

For 14 years the rolling blackouts plaguing South Africa have continued to drag our economy into a death spiral, slashed jobs, cut investment and set us on a course to be a smaller and less significant player globally.

The most egregious aspect of South Africa’s electricity crisis is that it can so easily be solved: Open the grid under an independent electricity supply entity, and let private power producers fill the supply gap.

There can no longer be any excuse or reason for the ANC government to avoid this essential step. It must be done immediately, and we call on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take urgent and direct action to stop this madness once and for all by opening the grid and breaking Eskom’s monopoly.

Issued by Ghaleb Cachalia, DA Shadow Minister of Public Enterprises, 17 November 2021