The Democratic Alliance (DA) held a press briefing on Monday, which called for the return of Parliament to hammer out the troubles with Eskom. The fifth-term of Parly officially ended last week, but the opposition party want an emergency declared by Speaker Baleka Mbete, thus forcing serving MPs to come back for a debate.
Mmusi Maimane, Solly Malatsi and Natasha Mazzone were the figureheads of Monday's speech, which blamed the ANC for creating an energy crisis in the country. South Africa is currently recovering from the devastating week of load shedding which allegedly reached Stage 5 at one point.
Rampant corruption, a lack of planning and disastrous mismanagement have all be identified as the final nails in Eskom's coffin. The utility is drowning in debts approaching R400bn and faces an uphill battle to reverse its fortunes.
The DA plan to save Eskom Ever the optimists, the DA believe they have the formula to get Eskom going in the right direction again. They outlined their main plans to help regenerate the hapless firm, focusing on a wildly-different plan of action than what the ANC has presented. The Blues would look to rely more on IPPs and proper revenue collection:
Recall Parliament in order to pass a bill which would break Eskom down into separate entities. Industry professionals must also have a say.
Privatise Eskom's generation entities, diversifying what energy enters the grid while improving competition and reducing the costs.
Instruct Eskom to freeze the last two units at Kusile's build immediately, rather looking to IPPs for power. Their units cannot run at full capacity because of design and build problems.
Commit Eskom's maintenance and engineering employees as an essential service' that cannot strike.
Install smart meters for municipalities to collect revenue on time.
Allow metros that function well to source energy directly from independent energy suppliers.
Day of action planned to protest load shedding With talk of privatisation and limiting the rights workers have to strike, it perhaps doesn't come across as an employee-friendly plan of action. The DA are looking to return more authority to local power suppliers, who would be able to source their own electricity if they can prove they are well-maintained.
Maimane concluded his address in Johannesburg by calling on South Africans to join their day of action coming up this Friday. The party want citizens to take part in their street protests and register their disdain for the way the government has handled the Eskom fiasco.
It is clear that there exists no plan to fix this mess at all levels of national government. From the president,to the Minister of Public Enterprises, to those at Eskom - there exists no plan and no political will to take immediate action to get our country out of this ANC-created crisis.
We will launch a National Day of Action this Friday 29 March, calling on South Africans in every community, town and city across the country, to join us in a collective protest against what is now a national crisis. This Friday, citizens will show this ANC government that we have the power.
Mmusi Maimane
You can read the DA's full statement here:
"I have written to the Speaker of the National Assembly to urgently call for Parliament to remain in session, & for the National Assembly to establish an Ad Hoc Committee on #Eskom in terms of Rule 253 of the Rules of the National Assembly." @MmusiMaimane #KeepTheLightsOn pic.twitter.com/DDoMwhsf04
Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) March 25, 2019 Tags: Democratic Alliance (DA)Eskomload sheddingMmusi MaimaneSouth Africa
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The Democratic Alliance (DA) held a press briefing on Monday, which called for the return of Parliament to hammer out the troubles with Eskom. The fifth-term of Parly officially ended last week, but the opposition party want an emergency declared by Speaker Baleka Mbete, thus forcing serving MPs to come back for a debate.
