Johannesburg - Several political parties have expressed intense criticism against the idea of declaring a state of disaster over the ongoing power crisis.
ATM president Vuyo Zungula was among the leaders who openly denounced the government, arguing that declaring a State of Disaster for energy is not an answer to load shedding.
“Declaring a State of Disaster for energy is not a solution.
“The country is still reeling from the Covid State of Disaster, where rampant looting and favouring friends with relief packages were rife.
“Eskom must be put under administration with a multiparty committee as overseer,” said Zungu on Twitter.
Good secretary-general and member of Parliament Brett Herron weighed in on the matter, pointing out that the president needs to take sensible decisions.
“The reality is that declaring a disaster will not miraculously enable Eskom to manage our power stations and stop load shedding; to do that requires engineering and management skills.
“The idea that a State of Disaster will provide the government with a tool to speed up the procurement of energy — for example, the procurement of power ships — sounds plausible, but it won’t stop the implementation of critical decisions from being delayed through court challenges. What a State of Disaster will certainly provide the government with a tool to disempower the people by removing checks, balances, and transparency from decision-making.”
The party said: “The president is presently considering the legal implications of implementing the ANC’s policy position to declare a state of disaster.
“What is lawful is not necessarily sensible.
“The president must take sensible decisions.”
The EFF also rejected calls for a national state of disaster on the ongoing energy crisis, revealing that it will not stop the crippling electricity blackouts.
“The EFF rejects the meaningless calls by Cyril Ramaphosa for a state of national disaster to be declared on the prevailing crisis of rolling electricity blackouts.
“The call that the incompetent Cyril Ramaphosa made at his political party meeting is an empty pretence of doing something about the electricity crisis and will not end the crippling electricity blackouts.
“The Covid-19 pandemic was an instructive lesson on the ability of the ANC government to utilise tragedy and disaster as means to massively loot state resources.
“There was no verifiable intervention that saved lives when South Africa was under a state of national disaster during the Covid-19 pandemic, and massive corruption occurred under the guise of emergency procurement of personal protective equipment (PPEs).”
The Star