DRD Gold lambasts ruling ANC for hampering plans to find solutions for load shedding

Mining company DRD Gold has lambasted some of the policies implemented by the ruling African National Congress.

The gold miner says the ANC is hindering solutions to the ongoing electricity issues and DRD argues that the government is not allowing the private sector to quickly ramp up generation capacity.

“It seems as though certain elements within the ruling party – desperate to cling to the state’s monopoly on electricity supply – are frustrating efforts to decentralise and privatise power generation,” DRDGold CEO Niël Pretorius wrote in the company’s half-year results statement.

“Very little progress has been made to transition to reliable, renewable power for no reason other than the fact that the requisite licences are simply not being issued at the requisite rate.

“Commuters relying on public transport are both dependent upon and defenceless against these cartels. The state is either unable or unwilling to regulate this industry and is in any event unable to provide an alternative.

“The effect of these events is that the state is no longer just a source of drag on the economy – it is in consistent default of its constitutional mandate and has now become a threat to the economy and the quality of life of ordinary South Africans.”

News24 reports that as it looks to move away from the unreliable Eskom, the gold mining company has already kickstarted plans to construct a 20MW solar farm.

DRD also hopes to finish the project before July and ultimately feed surplus power into the national grid.

This investment follows a decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to lift restrictions on private power generation.

Furthermore, Pretorius said the “collapse” of state-owned ports and freight rail company Transnet is also the result of “neglect and corruption and aggravated by the state’s inability to protect vital infrastructure from criminal plundering and vandalism”.

On the other hand, the rapid decline of South Africa’s freight and passenger rail networks has led to a surge in road transportation.

Nevertheless, Pretorius said the private sector is capable of overcoming these challenges.

We therefore remain as determined as ever to do what is required, with other like-minded South Africans to step into the state-vacuum to help shape an environment in which business can flourish and South Africans can build the best life,” he said.