President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced a national state of disaster in response to the unrelenting energy crisis and said he would appoint an energy minister within the presidency to focus exclusively on ending load shedding.
The state of disaster was effective immediately. It was published shortly before Ramaphosa delivered his seventh State of the Nation (Sona) address, in which he acknowledged that the cargo shedding had driven South Africans to despair, but called on the country to gather hope that it could be overcome. .
“[As] I speak to you tonight, in homes across the country, many are hurting, many are worried, many are insecure, and many are without hope.
“The energy crisis is an existential threat to the economy and to the fabric of our society,” he said. “Our most immediate priority is to restore power.”
The need for a state of disaster has been questioned, including by government advisers, since the ruling party raised it last week, but Ramaphosa said it was necessary for the “strong central coordination and decisive action” needed to stem the crisis.
“The state of disaster will allow us to provide practical steps we need to take to support businesses in food production, storage, and the retail supply chain, including deploying generators, solar panels, and uninterruptible power supplies,” he said.
“Where technically possible, it will allow us to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load reduction.
“And it will allow us to accelerate energy projects and limit regulatory requirements while maintaining rigorous environmental protections, procurement principles and technical standards.”
He said the auditor general would continually monitor spending during the state of disaster to guard against the abuse of funds that became a defining feature of the widespread state of disaster imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Ramaphosa is expected to reshuffle his cabinet in the coming days, but the announcement that he would appoint an electricity minister within the presidency, but leave Eskom within the public company portfolio, removes some of the suspense and signals that he wants to limit the power . of Mineral Resources and Minister of Energy, Gwede Mantashe. He also indicates that Ramaphosa is planning to centralize more power in the presidency, having brought oversight of state security to his office.
Energy experts have increasingly called Mantashe part of the problem for his regressive advocacy of coal and his stalling on renewables. But as a key political ally and chairman of the ruling ANC, Ramaphosa cannot completely brush him aside.
The president said the new electricity minister would take full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the response to the electricity crisis, including the work of the National Energy Crisis Committee, and would work closely with Eskom’s board of directors and management. .
“To remove any confusion, the minister of public companies will remain the shareholder representative of Eskom and will lead the restructuring of Eskom, ensure the establishment of the transmission company, oversee the implementation of the just energy transition program and oversee the establishment of the holding company. SOE,” he said.
Ramaphosa said there was no point in reflecting on past mistakes that have led to constant cargo losses.
“We cannot undo the mistakes that were made in the past, the capacity that was not built, the damage that was done to our plants due to lack of maintenance, or the effects of state capture on our institutions.
“What we can do is fix the problem today, keep the lights on tomorrow and for generations to come.”
There would be no new plan to draw a way out of the crisis, he emphasized. Instead, the state would double down on five key measures announced in July, including fixing up Eskom’s coal plants, accelerating the addition of more renewable energy to the grid, extending transmission lines to southern provinces country to bring more wind and solar power online, deploying rooftop solar systems and opening up the energy sector to competition.
“We are not presenting new plans… All these measures will result in a massive increase in power to the grid in the next 12 to 18 months,” he said.
In the meantime, the government would help Eskom obtain funds to allow it to burn more diesel to lessen the severity of the loss of charge. The utility would procure emergency power that can be deployed within six months, with the investment going toward new transmission lines and substations, “particularly in areas such as the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape.”
Ramaphosa said the Eskom spin-off would continue and the national transmission company would “be operational soon.” The national treasury would find a way to restructure the utility’s mountain of debt of more than R400 billion. The electricity regulation amendment bill will be tabled in parliament later this year.
Ramaphosa moved from energy to water and transport as the next infrastructure priorities on his to-do list, including restructuring the ports and the Transnet railway company and reviving the stalled Umzimvubu Water Project.
He recommitted to fighting corruption, with a special word of thanks to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo for the work of the state capture investigation he chaired, and building an effective state.
“Our biggest weaknesses are in state-owned companies and local government,” he admitted, before vowing to go ahead with plans to clean up townships and bolster both police and prosecutorial services.
“Communities across our country live in fear for the safety of their families. This situation cannot continue,” Ramaphosa said.
He concluded his speech by calling on South Africans to believe that the country could emerge from the other side of its multiple crises, or, as he put it, “tonne hardships”, stronger than before, with less violence, poverty and unemployment. and with a vision of a land of opportunity restored.
“We must do all these things, not only to overcome our immediate challenges, but also to renew South Africa’s promise.
“It is a promise that we have kept alive in our hearts and in our actions.”
