South Africa declares Eskom load-shedding a national state of disaster

Dr Elias Sithole, the chairman of the National Calamity Management Centre, has declared load-shedding a national disaster.

On Thursday evening, Cooperate Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Dr Nkosasana Dlamini-Zuma proclaimed a state of disaster via government gazette.

“Emanating from the classification of this occurrence as a national disaster, in terms of section 26, read with section 23 of the Act, the primary responsibility to coordinate and manage the disaster, in terms of existing legislation and contingency arrangements, is designated to the National Executive,” Sithole stated.

“[I] hereby call upon organs of state to further strengthen and support existing structures established to coordinate and manage the implementation of contingency arrangements in line with the National Energy Action Plan,” he said.

Sithole stated that this is done to guarantee that steps are put in place to allow the National Executive to properly deal with the disaster’s repercussions and prevent the escalation of severe electrical supply limitations to a total blackout.

During his State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of calamity.

“The state of disaster will enable us to provide practical measures that we need to take to support businesses in the food production, storage and retail supply chain, including for the rollout of generators, solar panels and uninterrupted power supply,” Ramaphosa stated.

Ramaphosa stated that he will appoint an Electrical Minister to the Presidency who would be fully responsible for managing all parts of the electricity crisis solution.

This is “to deal more effectively and urgently with the challenges that confront us,” he said.

“The Minister of Electricity will focus full-time and work with the Eskom board and management on ending load shedding and ensuring that the Energy Action Plan is implemented without delay.”

To clear the air, Ramaphosa stated that the Minister of Public Enterprises will continue to serve as Eskom’s shareholder representative to:

• Steer the restructuring of Eskom
• Ensure the establishment of the transmission company
• Oversee the implementation of the just energy transition programme
• Oversee the establishment of the SOE Holding Company.

Ramaphosa also set the stage for a cabinet reshuffle at a later date.

“The process of restructuring government will give us an opportunity to determine the positioning of various areas of responsibilities and how best the various ministries and departments can best serve our national objectives.”

Ramaphosa stated that the government is now focused on the energy problem and would handle government reorganisation in due time.

“This is necessary because an effective response to this crisis involves several different departments and entities that require coordination from the centre of government,” he said.

Other social partners, he added, will be incorporated in a framework similar to the one they established to push the vaccination deployment.

“Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures. The energy crisis is an existential threat to our economy and social fabric of our country,” said Ramaphosa.

“We must spare no effort, and we must allow no delay, in implementing these measures.”

In response to media inquiries, Eskom released a statement indicating that it could not comment on Ramaphosa’s comments at this time.

“With regards to the President’s speech declaring a state of electricity disaster; Eskom will study the detail in the Government Gazette to understand the implications of the declaration before it can provide of any further comment,” the state-owned power utility said.

“With regards to the creation of a new government department for electricity, Eskom is unable to comment on any policy decisions.”