Cape Town — Western Cape Premier Alan Winde has welcomed the termination of the State of Disaster (SoD) to deal with the energy crisis, saying that he wants action.
The government announced on Wednesday that it has terminated with immediate effect, the National State of Disaster on Electricity declared by the Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) on 9 February 2023.
Winde, meanwhile, remarked that talking about the crisis would not end the rolling blackouts and called for action.
“When I met with Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa last month I called on him to take decisive action. We do not need any more plans; we need more megawatts,” he said.
I welcome the termination of the State of Disaster (SoD) to deal with the energy crisis. Plans and talk of how to tackle this calamity are not ending damaging rolling blackouts. We as the @WesternCapeGov (WCG) want action. We have demonstrated this through our own interventions. pic.twitter.com/6EQyOb8vuE
— Premier Alan Winde (@alanwinde) April 5, 2023
The premier emphasised the need for urgency.
“Not only are our citizens buckling under blackouts, which are worsening, but they also have to contend with the throttling cost of living crisis. The WCG has been working flat out to meaningfully address this crisis by putting budgets in almost all of our departments over the next 3 financial years to ensure services and our citizens are protected from loadshedding as far as possible by getting more megawatts (MWs) into the power system,” said Winde.
“This catastrophe is the most urgent priority for us, and with blackouts here to stay for a good while longer, talking about alleviating load shedding must translate into tangible action – now,” he added.
Meanwhile, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that the withdrawal of the National State of Disaster on Electricity will have no impact on the ministry’s work going forward.
“The Minister of Electricity continues to be seized with that responsibility of reducing the severity of load shedding and its regularity. That’s why we have done extensive visits to the power stations of Eskom. We have got a better understanding at the granular level of what… it takes for us to be able to respond comprehensively,” Ramokgopa said.
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
