Eskom and government must be honest regarding the possibility of a total power grid failure

22 March 2019

The FF Plus is urgently requesting Eskom's management to be honest with the people of South Africa about where we stand with regard to power supply and the possibility of a total power grid failure.

The FF Plus plans to speak to Mr Pravin Gordhan, Minister of Public Enterprises, as soon as possible to ask him to play open cards with the public concerning the Eskom situation.

If the possibility exists that the power grid could collapse, whether in a controlled or uncontrolled way, Eskom must acknowledge it. The public has the right to know what is the probability of something like that happening so that they can prepare in advance.

Similarly, all the levels of government, both provincial and local, must be informed so that they can have contingency plans in place should there be a total blackout.

These things could surely create a revolutionary environment. The police and defence force must be prepared for that. The public and civil organisations must also be prepared and willing to cooperate with one another to ensure that law and order is maintained.

At this stage, it is unclear how things stand at Eskom. Some experts say that Eskom is already load shedding in stage 5 and no longer in stage 4. However, no one really knows, and everyone is simply guessing.

If the nature of an increase in load shedding are considered, is seems as if we have already moved past stage 4 and are much closer to stage 6.

If the country is indeed headed for a power supply implosion and it results in chaos because the people were not warned in advance, Eskom and the government will be to blame.

Past experiences have taught us that one cannot trust the ANC government and if the party is misleading the public, it must know that it will pay the price at the polls.

Issued by Anton Alberts, FF Plus chairperson, 22 March 2019