Stage 6 load shedding embarrasses South Africa in front of the world, says Maimane

Build One SA (Bosa) leader Mmusi Maimane says government should have warned citizens that there was a possibility of higher levels of load shedding this weekend.

On Sunday, Eskom explained that several units at power stations were down and that more than 7 000MW is offline for planned maintenance.

The power utility further explained that emergency reserves had been used and needed to be replenished.

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South Africans should have been warned – Maimane

Speaking to The Citizen on Sunday, Maimane expressed concern about the return of load shedding.

“Eskom’s leadership is doing its best. Our political leaders should have warned citizens. Our economy can’t afford further power cuts,” he said.

The return of load shedding comes as members of the international community are in the country for meetings related to the G20 summit which will take place later this year.

“Load shedding, along with water shedding, will be the legacy of the government of national unity. It’s embarrassing at all times [but] worse at this time,” he said.

‘Urgent need for action on load shedding‘

Maimane called for the diversification of the country’s energy sources to mitigate the impact of load shedding on the economy and jobs.

“We certainly require urgent actions on this, as its impact on investment is profound. South Africa needs to grow at 5%. It will not be investable with continued power cuts. The lack of foreign investment is the voice of the international community,” he said.

What can the government do?

Theo Neethling, a political analyst from the University of the Free State (UFS) told The Citizen on Sunday that with foreign diplomats in the country, South Africa is now unable to hide its electricity problems from the rest of the world.

“This is not the kind of thing that the country wants to see with the G20 delegations being here. We have a number of people from overseas here and this is the last thing the government would like to see,” he said.

However, Neethling said the return of load shedding is out of the government’s hands.

“Government can’t do anything about this. You have two power stations down and this is beyond the control of the president,” he said.

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