South Africa’s Ramaphosa calls ‘state of disaster’ on power

      No Comments on South Africa’s Ramaphosa calls ‘state of disaster’ on power
FEB 9, 2023 @ 2045 GMT | This photo supplied by the Government Communication and Information Services (GCIS), South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, delivers his State of the Nation address to MP’s in Cape Town, South Africa, City Hall Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023. Ramaphosa is under pressure to convince the country that his government is addressing the nation’s dire electricity crisis and bleak economic outlook in his annual State of the Nation Address. (GCIS via AP)

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a state of disaster with immediate effect to deal with the country’s severe electricity crisis including prolonged daily power blackouts.

“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. The energy crisis is an existential threat to our economy and social fabric,” said Ramaphosa in his State of the Nation address Thursday night.

The declaration of a state of disaster comes as rolling power cuts of up to 8 hours per day are hitting homes, factories and businesses across the nation of 60 million. The state of disaster is an emergency measure previously implemented to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the deadly floods that killed over 400 people last year.

Julius Malema, center, of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) outside the city hall in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023 after disrupting South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa’s, State of the Nation address. Ramaphosa is under pressure to convince the country that his government is addressing the nation’s dire electricity crisis and bleak economic outlook in his annual State of the Nation Address. (AP Photo)

According to Ramaphosa, the declaration will enable his government to exempt essential services like hospitals and water treatment plants from power blackouts and enable the government to purchase additional power from neighboring countries on an emergency basis.

It will also enable the government to assist businesses to deal with the effects of widespread power cuts, including making diesel-powered generators and solar panels more widely available.

The country’s power utility Eskom is unable to produce adequate power due to frequent breakdowns at its aging coal-fired power stations and years of corruption.

Ramaphosa also announced that he will appoint a minister of electricity, whose sole focus would be to deal with the electricity crisis.

Ramaphosa’s speech was delayed for 45 minutes after disruptions by members of parliament from the leftist Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party, who were eventually removed from the sitting by security personnel.

He is expected to reshuffle his Cabinet following the resignation of deputy president David Mabuza and changes in the leadership of the ruling African National Congress party. Ramaphosa is expected to appoint newly-elected ANC deputy president Paul Mashatile to replace Mabuza.

____

Newsroom | theworldmail.co.uk
Source/Contribution/Photo Credit by Associated Press

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *