THE ANC is at sea on how it plans to address the electricity crisis despite the governing party acknowledging how load shedding was crippling the economy.
This was clear when the party released its discussion document by Human Settlements Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi in a series of the party’s instalments before its policy conference.
Kubayi was presenting the document on economic transformation where she highlighted the need for the country to sort out the electricity crisis, as load shedding was damaging the economy.
“So we are saying load shedding is crippling South Africa. That’s an acknowledgment and we have to restore energy security, as it is critical for lifting confidence and investment and also creating jobs because the more we have load shedding the more jobs have been lost, the more the country is not productive.
“We must improve Eskom’s performance, both in terms of operationally and financially. The procurement of electricity in terms of integrated resource plan has to be improved in all we are saying here, not really in terms of because we shouldn’t get ourselves more into procurement, but we are saying let’s ensure that we implement the Integrated Resource Plan,” she said.
Kubayi-Ngubeni said if there was a need for the government to reflect on the plan and help in reducing the time frame for the approval of new power generation proposals, that should be done.
The discussion document does not touch on the electricity reserves as pointed out by Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe, who has claimed that there was enough of it and questioned why the country was experiencing electricity blackouts.
Kubayi-Ngubeni acknowledged that the more the country was having blackouts, the more jobs were being lost and the less productive the country was.
“The ANC will encourage exploration of mineral and gas particular for those critical resources linked to energy transition around infrastructure. We’ve actively said previously, that infrastructure development becomes the key in terms of our recovery. But we are saying the important one is that we have to ensure that there’s a true partnership between private sector and public sector so that we can see the infrastructure investments,” she said.
The minister said the infrastructure development should bridge the gap between rural and urban devise, as she called for capacity building and red tape removed in the sector to attract more potential investors.
She said the government will continue to discuss the need to regulate pension fund to help improve the infringement development.
“On my own manufacturing, we are saying South Africa needs to address the decline in its manufacturing sector and rejuvenate more inclusive industrialization through better coordinated industrial policy.
“But again here simplifying the process ensuring that the right tips are reduced, and we can be able to see manufacturing happen. This should focus more on labour intensive industries within the manufacturing sector,” she said.
She added that even though the country has made some stride in addressing poverty and making inroads in delivering a better life for all, far too many people were going to bed on an empty stomach and had no idea where their next meal would come from.
Kubayi-Ngubeni said while the ANC acknowledged these strides, the legacy of colonial apartheid remained deeply entrenched and while too many experienced service delivery bedrocks, deep inequalities undermined social solidarity and made it harder to support policies to promote economic growth and development.
“You would have seen that the rise of those populist organizations are emerging out of this because when people find it difficult to explain the conditions that they are when social solidarity is undermined, and therefore in terms of working together as communities, we tend to want to find who is the person responsible for our misfortune and our difficulties,” she said.
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