Corruption, cadre deployment and self enrichment at the root of load-shedding says DA
According to DA's federal leader, John Steenhuisen, Eskom now produces less power than it did before Kusile and Medupi Power Stations were built.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) members made their way to the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House in Newtown to march against the impact load-shedding has had on South Africans on 25 January.
Things started on a good note with DA members singing and chanting struggle songs but they have since escalated with the ruling party the African National Congress (ANC) fighting back.
Speaking to the crowd, The DA’s federal leader, John Steenhuisen said that they could have went to a number of places for their fight against load-shedding but because the root of the problem is with the ANC, they went there.
“If you are serious about tackling the problem, you need to go straight to the source. And that building there, Luthuli House, is ground zero of our electricity crisis,” Steenhuisen said.
“That is where the destruction of Eskom was engineered through terrible, outdated policy, through disgusting greed and corruption and, above all, through the deployment of useless and often criminal cadres to the state power utility,” he added.
He said the ANC is to blame for the electricity crisis that is crippling the country’s economy.
“Almost every single problem that has beset Eskom and has brought about fifteen years of load-shedding can be traced back directly to the ANC’s cadre deployment programme,” he said.
Steenhuisen then mentioned the crippling power stations, Mpumalanga’s Kusile Power Station and Limpopo’s Medupi Power Station. He said the power stations were meant to stop the electricity problems but because of the corruption, the two are on the verge of collapse.
“Today, fifteen years after those corrupt boiler contracts were awarded, these stations are still not fully operational. As we speak, Kusile is facing critical structural threats and has several units out of commission. Those two enormous coal stations were meant to solve all our energy problems, and nothing else was added to the grid in the meantime,” he explained.
He also added that Eskom now produces less power than it did before they even started building the power stations.
“That’s why load-shedding has steadily increased every year for the past five years, instead of getting less. That’s why we had 200 days of power cuts last year. That’s why you now have to deal with Stage 6 load-shedding, week after week, and have been told to expect permanent power cuts for at least the next two years…And that’s why you are expected to pay 19% more from April for the little electricity you receive, plus another 12% next year. You have to pay more to make up for their corruption, incompetence and failed policies,” he added.
“While they’ve made you pay for their failures, they have exempted themselves from all these consequences.”- @jsteenhuisen #PowerToThePeopleMarch
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) January 25, 2023
“We are told that their need for uninterrupted electricity is in fact more important than that of hospitals, old age homes, businesses, schools or any of the things that keep our economy afloat and our people alive.”- @jsteenhuisen #PowerToThePeopleMarch
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) January 25, 2023
“And when NERSA says you must pay 19% more and then another 12% more, on top of 650% you’ve already paid these past 15 years, they don’t care. Because they don’t even pay for their electricity. You do, for all of it.”- @jsteenhuisen #PowerToThePeopleMarch
— Democratic Alliance (@Our_DA) January 25, 2023
Watch the below video to hear what the councillors had to say about the march:
