Promises and PR stunts won’t help

President Cyril Ramaphosa was spot-on in cancelling his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland to attend to our power crisis, but don’t expect the situation to change for the better any time soon.

The country is currently dealing with stage 6 load shedding “until further notice”. Nothing can be more important than the energy crisis we are facing and with no clear solutions on the horizon, this must be priority number one for the president, his ministers and the entire government until there’s some improvement in our electricity supply.

ALSO READ: Ramaphosa cancels Davos trip due to ongoing energy crisis

Of course, one man is not going to just fix our energy problems, but a president can’t be seen to be gallivanting abroad, rubbing shoulders with world leaders while his country is burning back home.

He was right to immediately set up meetings with key role players, the Eskom board and political leaders to get to the bottom of this matter. But, sadly, it’s not enough. He’s done it before, yet we are still facing the same issues. In fact, the picture looks worse.

In 2019, he ended a trip to Egypt early to deal with the power crisis, while last year Ramaphosa missed the United Nations General Assembly, returning home from the queen’s funeral in Britain for the same reason. Cheap talk is just not good enough. Promises and PR stunts won’t help, either.

ALSO READ: City Power infrastructure also old, battling with load shedding

A country is in desperate need of action. Small businesses and households are the big victims here, while the economy is on a slippery slope as a result and there’s no light at the end of the tunnel.

Solid action is needed. A plan needs to be put in place urgently. If not, it’s only going to get worse. And the people of this country can’t afford to suffer any further.