Permanent stage 2 - 3 loadshedding is an admission of failure

23 January 2023

Note to editors: Please find attached English and Afrikaans soundbites by Kevin Mileham MP.

The announcement made by Eskom today that South Africa will be placed on permanent stage 2 or 3 loadshedding for the next 2 years is the clearest admission yet by the ANC government and Eskom that they have failed to solve the electricity crisis.

This unprecedented step by Eskom will continue to place an onerous burden on the economy and our citizens. Essentially, South Africans are being asked to stay in the dark for four hours a day while paying extortionate electricity tarriffs which are due to rise by 33,77% over the next 16 months.

What is more infuriating is that the ANC government has, for the past week, been telling the country outright lies to the effect that loadshedding will be a thing of the past. First, it was Gwede Mantashe who said he could end loadshedding in 6 to 12 months, and then Enoch Godongwana who claimed that power cuts will end in 12 to 18 months. Eskom has rubbished these claims and placed the country on permanent loadshedding for 2 years with no guarantees after that.

Architects of state capture who were responsible for the wholesale looting and subsequent collapse of Eskom, remain free while South Africans are being forced to bear the burden of permanent loadshedding.

The DA rejects this unrelenting punishment of ordinary citizens and it's precisely why we have declared Wednesday a National Day of Action. We will be marching to Luthuli House to protest against ANC loadshedding and unaffordable, unfair electricity price increases. It is time that power is given back to the people!

Issued by Kevin Mileham, DA Shadow Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, 23 January 2023