President Cyril Ramaphosa. PHOTO: Alfonso Nqunjana/Noticias24
- President Cyril Ramaphosa told ANC leaders in a lekgotla that the cargo shedding was crippling the economy, crippling investment and contributing to crime.
- Ramaphosa said the ANC wanted to end the cargo shedding or reduce its impact by the end of the year.
- The lekgotla was expected to outline ideas on how to solve the country’s energy problems along with various other socio-economic issues.
- Click here for the latest news, analysis and opinion on current electricity issues.
President Cyril Ramaphosa told ANC leaders at the start of the party lekgotla that the aim is to reduce load shedding stages while Eskom deals with maintenance delays.
Ramaphosa said the country’s energy crisis was serious because it affected the economy and investment and, in many cases, led to an increase in crime.
He told the lekgotla that the party had to prioritize new ideas and other energy plans on how the country could solve the load reduction crisis.
The two-day lekgotla at Kempton Park, Johannesburg is expected to end on Monday.
It will focus on addressing the areas that the ANC needs to improve. The first is the country’s load shedding problems.
A presentation on the government’s plan to deal with Eskom was expected at the meeting.
Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan was expected to give a presentation at the lekgotla on the energy plan for the country.
An energy plan compiled in July 2022 was being implemented, but the effects would take some time to materialise, Ramaphosa said.
He added that in the meantime, citizens had to swallow the truth that the load shedding would not end anytime soon, but the goal was to reduce it.
Interventions include obtaining more power supply from independent power producers and other sources.
Ramafosa said:
These interventions will take some time to take effect, and we need to be honest with cargo shedding, in one form or another, that will be with us for some time.
“Our goal is to reduce load shedding stages to the lowest levels while addressing the overall challenge of ensuring security of power supply.
“We need to explain that, in addition to the historical reasons for load shedding, another factor contributing to the current levels of load shedding is Eskom’s effort to correct past mistakes.
“Eskom has stepped up its maintenance program to reduce unplanned breakdowns and extend the life of power plants,” Ramaphosa said.
He also addressed what he believed to be confusion over whether the country was ditching coal at the expense of renewables.
Ramaphosa said the government was not ready to abandon coal.
“We must also address the perception that we are called upon to make a compromise between energy security and a just transition to a low-carbon economy, that we must choose between coal and renewables.
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“We must remember that South Africa’s future mix of energy sources is outlined in the Integrated Resource Plan 2019 [IRP19].
“It takes into account a diversity of energy sources, including coal, renewable energy, nuclear, gas, hydro, storage, biomass and other forms of energy.
“In terms of the IRP19, several coal-fired power plants will be decommissioned between now and 2030, as they have reached the end of their life cycle.”
ANC Secretary General Fikile Mbalula told media on the sidelines of the lekgotla that the party aimed to end cargo shedding by the end of the year or reduce it.
“We hope to reduce the stages to stage 2. Our goal is to finish load shedding by the end of the year and even before the end of the year, given the packages we are looking to put in place to end this crisis.
“We are discussing this crisis here and we will give the government a precise outline of what to do,” Mbalula said.
Eskom’s chairman of the board, Mpho Makwana, recently warned that a permanent stage 2 or 3 load reduction could be implemented over the next two years.
