DA writes to Ramokgopa to unblock Frankfort's bid for energy independence
8 August 2023
Democratic Alliance Federal Leader, John Steenhuisen, today met with Rural Maintenance in the town of Frankfort in the Mafube Local Municipality as part of the party’s civil society outreach project.
In its pursuit of energy independence from Eskom, Rural Maintenance has been subjected to a long and deliberately drawn-out process in which collusion between Mafube and Eskom continues to deny Rural Maintenance and Frankfort’s residents the authority to generate their own electricity, manage the town’s loadshedding schedule, and ultimately help solve South Africa’s electricity crisis.
Accompanied by DA Free State Provincial Leader, Roy Jankielsohn, and DA Free State Provincial Chairperson, Werner Horn, Steenhuisen visited two of the Rural Maintenance solar plants built to allow the town of Frankfort to become energy independent.
However, by using their licensee privileges and transmission monopolies, Mafube and Eskom have locked Frankfort into Eskom's loadshedding vice grip and frustrated any attempts by organised communities to generate electricity, wheel it back into the grid, and ease the effects of load shedding on residents.