Ramaphosa cancelling Davos trip is good PR, but ‘has no real effect’

Despite President Cyril Ramaphosa having cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, do not expect any immediate action as South Africa heads into stage 4 and 5 load shedding.

“[He] has already engaged with the leadership of Eskom and National Energy Crisis Committee (NECC) and those meetings will continue,” said presidency spokesperson Vincent Mgwenya.

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) revealed yesterday after a meeting between Ramaphosa, the Eskom board, outgoing Eskom chief executive André de Ruyter, leaders of political parties and the NECC, concessions were made the electricity crisis would not be resolved in the next two years.

ALSO READ: Slight relief for South Africans as load shedding is reduced

“The Eskom board and outgoing CEO categorically stated that even within the 24 months, there is no guarantee that the [energy availability factor] will be restored above 60% of South Africa’s generation capacity,” EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo said yesterday.

Ramaphosa trip cancellation has ‘no real effect’

Political analyst Professor Kgothatso Shai said Ramaphosa’s cancellation of the Davos trip had no real effect.

“It is just a display of sensitivity. The power crisis is not a new development and it did not happen overnight,” he said.

Political lecturer at NorthWest University Dr Benjamin Rapanyane said Ramaphosa’s cancellation of his trip came at the 11th hour after the realisation of the continued embarrassing situation at Eskom.

“The energy crisis has been ongoing for quite some time now. What is most humiliating is that the government has not been able to come up with a permanent solution to the crisis,” he said.

Rapanyane said Ramaphosa’s cancellation of a working trip to Davos should ultimately end the Eskom energy crisis for good.

ALSO READ: ‘Change government to save SA from load shedding’ – Holomisa

“Ramaphosa should now oversee the competency of Eskom, especially since there has been speculation of acts of criminal syndicates and sabotage. The resignation of De Ruyter after attempts to poison him should allow Ramaphosa the opportunity to bring in necessary technical expertise to build enough confidence in the utility again,” he said.

Rapanyane said Ramaphosa’s cancellation of his trip should not be in vain.

“This is the kind of rolling power blackouts South Africans never imagined were possible to reach until 7 December, 2022 – the last time we experienced stage 6. Besides shedding up to 6 000MW, South Africans can expect to lose up to 10 hours of productivity throughout the day, which would have devastating effects on the economic output,” he said.

Political analyst Piet Croucamp said SA is farming backwards.

“Ramaphosa staying doesn’t increase the effect of the state’s reaction to problems at Eskom,” he said.

Bid to help ease pressure

Over the course of this week, 14 units are expected to return to service, helping to ease the pressure on the power system, Eskom spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said yesterday.

Stage 4 load shedding was set to be implemented at 5am today until 4pm daily, with stage 5 load shedding daily from 4pm until 5am the next day.

“Eskom cautions the public, however, that there is a high degree of uncertainty associated with this,” Mantshantsha said.

“Changes in the stages of load shedding can therefore occur at short notice, due to the inherent unreliability of the coal power station fleet.

ALSO READ: Load shedding threatening food security in SA

“Eskom procured an additional 50 million litres of diesel on 6 January. This fuel will be utilised sparingly to manage the pumped storage dam levels and to limit load shedding during the day,” he said.

“Together, these emergency generators contribute 5 700MW of capacity.”

– marizkac@citizen.co.za