Eskom Stage 4 load-shedding: National Government must urgently move on IPPs to end power crisis
9 June 2021
The City is currently able to limit the impact of load-shedding and City-supplied customers will have a less severe impact of Stage 3 load-shedding between 14:00 and 17:00. Cape Town is the only city in South Africa where residents are spared the full impact. It is regrettable that the country continues to endure load-shedding when a viable and sustainable solution is available.
Load-shedding hinders the ability of the economy to grow and limits vital job creation. The Covid-19 pandemic has further hammered a struggling national economy and residents, businesses and investment are all impacted because we do not have a stable and clean energy supply.
Amendments to national electricity regulations that were finally gazetted in October 2020, have begun to pave the way for municipalities to source power independently from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). The City has been in discussions with the national IPP office in the National Treasury to assist us in developing a framework for a municipal procurement programme for cities. The National Treasury supports our initiatives and also the public and transparent procurement processes we committed to from the start. Tender processes and the successful bids would need to be completed ahead of any potential procurement.