Cape Town - President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a national State of Disaster in response to widespread calls for government to solve Eskom’s problems.
In his State of the Nation Address last night, the president said this comes after the National Disaster Management Centre classified the energy crisis and its impact as a disaster.
Ramaphosa said he will appoint a Minister of Electricity to the Presidency to assume full responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the electricity crisis response, including the work of the National Energy Crisis Committee.
“The state of disaster will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take to support businesses in the food production, storage, and retail supply chain, including for the rollout of generators, solar panels, and uninterrupted power supply,” Ramaphosa said.
Eskom has been rolling out scheduled blackouts, or load shedding, across the country as it tries to protect the country’s grid from total collapse.
He said the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma gazetted the declaration of the State of Disaster, which will begin with immediate effect.
Ramphosa said where technically possible, it would enable the country to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load shedding.
“And it will enable us to accelerate energy projects and limit regulatory requirements while maintaining rigorous environmental protections, procurement principles, and technical standards,” he said.
“The Minister will focus full-time and work with the Eskom board and management on ending load shedding and ensuring that the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay.”
The president said to remove any confusion, the Minister of Public Enterprises will remain the shareholder representative of Eskom and steer the restructuring of Eskom, ensure the establishment of the transmission company, oversee the implementation of the just energy transition programme, and oversee the establishment of the SOE Holding Company.
“The process of restructuring the government will allow us to determine the positioning of various areas of responsibilities and how best the various ministries,” he said.
Ramaphosa’s government would crack down on those who damaged infrastructure, with a specialised unit making arrests in this regard.
A new law calls for harsh sentences against those involved in economic sabotage crimes, including cable theft and damage to infrastructure.
The government has said that more than R40 billion was lost in the GDP due to economic sabotage.
Ramaphosa said they would hire another 10 000 police officers this year. This after 10 000 new officers were recruited last year.
He said they would continue with the R350 social relief grant and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana would announce details in his Budget speech later this month.
He said more than 7.8 million people were receiving the R350 grant.
He confirmed that there would be changes in his executive with a Cabinet reshuffle expected in the next few days.
Fikile Mbalula is expected to leave his position as Transport Minister after being elected ANC secretary-general last December.
Ayanda Dlodlo’s position at Public Service and Administration has not been filled since she left for the World Bank last April.
He said they would hold another investment conference after reaching their target of R1.2 trillion. They had a new target of raising R2 trillion in new investments by 2028.
The licensing of the Post Bank would lay the foundation for a State Bank. This comes as Parliament is considering the Post Bank Bill. The ANC has in its previous conferences called for the establishment of a State Bank.
He said they were also cracking down on crime and corruption and wanted to strengthen the SAPS and the National Prosecuting Authority.
“The specialised police teams that are working on tackling crimes like kidnapping, extortion and illegal mining, have had several breakthroughs, arresting dozens of suspects and achieving several convictions,” said Ramaphosa.
A few years ago, Parliament passed a law that would impose tough sentences for those involved in infrastructure damage, including cable theft.
He said one of the measures to deal with infrastructure damage and cable theft was the temporary ban of the export of scrap metals.