Government unable to deal with electricity crisis due to lack of engineering skills – Mashatile

Another day, another excuse? 

Deputy President Paul Mashatile has seemingly taken a page out of electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa‘s book on why the country’s electricity crisis is still persisting. 

Mashatile said lack of engineering skills was adding to the electricity crisis and this affected the country’s economy due to prolonged load shedding. 

Unable to fulfil energy requirements

“We are unable to fulfil our energy requirements. This reality has adversely affected our economy due to prolonged load shedding diminishing accessibility to essential social services, including healthcare and education,” he said.  

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“Making the necessary shifts in this regard calls for significant investments in quality education, especially in underserved areas. We can unlock the potential of talented young Africans by ensuring they have the necessary skills to contribute to our continent’s growth.”

Mashathile was speaking at the UNESCO 9th Africa Engineering Week and Africa Engineering Conference this week. 

Clean energy

He said despite the lack of engineering skills government was working to put an end to the current blackouts.

“As government, we are addressing this issue by increasing maintenance requirements on existing and aging infrastructure, high investment and capital required for new energy assets, and social and economic implications for a Just Energy Transition,” said Mashatile. 

READ MORE: Ramokgopa clears ‘confusion’ on hot weather and load shedding comments

“In this regard, we welcome the pledges supporting South Africa’s Just Energy Transition, which now stands at $11.9 billion (about R228 billion). The country is mobilising additional finance, including grants, to facilitate the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy. This will help reduce the impact of load shedding while keeping our environment clean.

“We should not transition in the dark as other nations are beginning to transition, but it will be done on our terms, which are informed by our objective conditions.”

Turning to the private sector

Ramokgopa called on the private sector to assist with expanding the national grid.

According to him, Eskom’s transmission expansion and strengthening require a “considerable amount of resources” that require government and the private sector to work together.

“We don’t want to repeat the same mistakes that have been committed on the generation side, where we kicked the can down the road, and we just thought the private sector on its own will come into the space and resolve the issues of generation capacity constraints,” Ramokgopa said. 

“The transmission expansion and strengthening exercise will require a considerable amount of resources and we know that Eskom’s balance sheet is constrained, and we know that the sovereign matrix has deteriorated, so we must explore opportunities for the country to tap into the liquidity that is sitting with the private sector.”