Mbalula slams CIA spooks for Eskom grid collapse panic

African National Congress (ANC) secretary-general Fikile Mbalula says the improvement in Eskom’s performance has dispelled claims that the country’s electricity grid was on the verge of collapse.

The possibility of a “doomsday scenario” floated around in the public domain as South Africa continued to battled higher stages of load shedding ahead of the winter season.

However, winter has turned not to be as bad as it was predicted due to Eskom and government’s progress in implementing the energy action plan.

Eskom’s Energy Availability Factor (EAF) returned to 60% early last month and as a result, the country has experienced lower stages of load shedding.

‘Massive propaganda’

In a media briefing held at the Luthuli House in Johannesburg, Mbalula revealed that information about the country’s potential national blackout came from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States (US).

The ANC secretary-general said the US government had not interacted with the South Africa’s intelligence services regarding the matter.

“We had massive propaganda and lies that were peddled that we are facing a grid collapse. It was rumoured to be coming from very reliable sources and intelligence from America.

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“I remember the Minister [of Electricity] Sputla Ramokgopa, even the president, dispelled [the rumours] as total falsehood. Yes, we are faced with challenges, but it will not lead to a grid collapse,” Mbalula said on Wednesday.

He said the CIA operating in the country was a huge concern.

“We [didn’t] know the CIA has got unfettered ground to interfere in our affairs [by gathering] intelligence on South African soil and share it with public representatives in our country without interacting with their colleagues on government-to-government relations,” he said.

Watch the briefing below:

VIP protection assault

Mbalula also spoke on the assault of civilians by Deputy President Paul Mashatile’s security detail, calling on the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) to probe the matter speedily.

“Ipid needs to investigate the [protection] police, whether there have been indiscretions in them executing and doing their work… through the eye of the man [on] the street, we saw brutality,” he said.

There has been public outcry after members of the South African Police Service (Saps) VIP Protection Unit were caught on camera allegedly assaulting three South African National Defence Force (SANDF) trainees on the N1 highway in Johannesburg over the weekend.

While the four members of the VIP Protection Unit have since been suspended, the ANC secretary-general said there was still little information about what sparked the assaults as the public “only saw snippets” of the incident.

READ MORE: Ipid investigating VIP protection cops after vicious assault

“Everybody wants to know what did these citizens do to warrant that kind of brutal attack. We don’t know whether they were drunk [but] there must be an investigation on the matter.”

He also warned that the incident could used as a “political football” against the ANC if there was no one was held accountable.

“I saw a headline in particular newspaper saying ANC protectors,” Mbalula said.

Mbalula further dismissed the suggestion that Mashatile must take some responsibility for the violent conduct of his protectors.

“It is easy to apportion blame on the deputy president who does not carry out his own protection. People are employed to protect him, and those people are law officers. In this particular instance, we must focus on those who execute the implementation of the law to ensure that they do so appropriately.”

NEC meeting

Meanwhile, Mbalula confirmed the national executive committee (NEC) will meet this weekend to discuss a number of issues including the party’s manifesto.

He said both the manifesto and the guidelines for candidates’ selection process will be presented before the NEC for consideration and adoption.

“We reviewing the manifesto, looking how far we have gone growing South Africa together, what we have done. We are not like opposition parties… they have got no responsibility to anyone. They just wake up and join everyone who complains everyday. We bare a bigger responsibility because we are governing,” the ANC secretary-general continued.

He further indicated that the ANC Women’s League (ANCWL) will also hold its national elective conference from 14 to 16 July.

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