ON Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa revealed a proposal tabled by Energy and Minerals Minister Gwede Mantashe for another state-owned enterprise company to produce power, which he agreed with.
Ramaphosa said Eskom has been operating as a monopoly for more than 100 years and having one company taking the role of providing energy to the entire country posed a great risk.
“If it [Eskom] fails, its failure becomes a peculiar failure for the entire country. Look at China. It has a number of state-owned power providers who compete among themselves, ensuring the price of electricity is greatly reduced.”
He said in the coming days, government would be announcing new plans to add more megawatts to the grid.
Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi stated privatising the company would be detrimental to the poor.
While Ramaphosa’s administration previously denied plans to sell the company, Bloomberg reports there have been calls to divest from the asset.
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Privatisation, according to S&P Global Ratings, may be the best option for resolving Africa’s most industrialised nation’s power crisis.
However, by the weekend, Ramaphosa appeared to have softened his stance, stating Eskom must come first, and Eskom 2.0 can wait.
Business Insider reported while he promised swift action in the face of immediate danger, the forecast for electricity rationing has improved, with Eskom saying things will look much better towards the end this month.
South Africans have been frustrated by weeks of uninterrupted power outages, which began almost 15 years ago.
Ramaphosa also assured the nation that government was investigating solutions to load shedding.