Cape Town – With load shedding leaving South Africans without electricity for hours, President Cyril Ramaphosa has reportedly suggested a second state-owned power utility could be on the cards.
Ramaphosa said the power utility would reduce the risk caused by Eskom’s failures and boost economy, reports said.
He made the revelation at the South African Communist Party (SACP) congress in Boksburg on Friday, reported BusinessTech.
The report said the second power utility idea was pitched to the president by Minerals and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantase after considering the significant risk Eskom posed to country’s economy and public finances.
ALSO READ | Load shedding will remain for the next 10 days, Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter warns
“Eskom has been operating as a monopoly for over 100 years and having one company taking up the role of providing energy to the entire country poses a great risk. If it fails, its failure becomes a peculiar failure for the entire country,” the report quoted Ramaphosa as saying.
The president also urged his government to “use every available means and remove every regulatory obstacle to bring extra electricity onto the grid as soon as possible”, according to Sowetan Live.
“In the coming days we will be announcing additional measures that we need to take to address the current electricity crisis,” the report quoted him as saying.
“There is no policy proposal around setting up a second utility, reported EWN.
The report said there was no mention of the concept in the ANC’s policy discussion documents to be discussed by delegates at the party’s upcoming policy conference.
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram
Picture: Facebook/ Cyril Ramaphosa
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Olwethu Mpeshe
