By Thys Khiba – The Presidency said on Tuesday it is aware of several media reports that have reported ‘a gross misrepresentation of statements’ made by Cyril Ramaphosa in an affidavit submitted in a court case.
The matter was brought by the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and others, in respect of the current electricity crisis.
This comes after it was reported that in papers filed in response to a constitutional challenge on load shedding, Ramaphosa said that it does not constitute a dereliction of duty on his part as the law places the responsibility for electricity provision on municipalities.
Ramaphosa argued that in terms of part B of schedule 4 to the Constitution, electricity and gas reticulation is a competence of local government.
“The statement in the affidavit that has been misrepresented relates to the constitutional powers and responsibilities of the President and other Government bodies.
“It seeks to clarify important legal issues about what is contained in and what is required by the Constitution,” said Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya.
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Magwenya indicated that Ramaphosa’s views does not in any way diminish his commitment to end load shedding as a matter of urgency.
According Ramaphosa, since taking office in 2018, has introduced measures to resolve an electricity crisis and power cuts faced by South African citizens and bbusiness
In doing so, Ramaphosa revived the renewable energy procurement programme, which has resulted in the addition of over 2,000 MW to the grid to date, and signing project agreements for a further 2,800 MW of projects from bid windows 5 and 6 of the programme.
These includes removing the licensing threshold for embedded electricity projects and streamlining of regulatory processes, with the result that there are now more than 100 projects in the pipeline worth around 9,000 MW.
“Implementing regulatory reforms to allow municipalities to procure power independently.
“Driving a turnaround in the performance of Eskom’s power stations through more rigorous maintenance, the recruitment of experienced technical personnel, improving security and law enforcement at power stations, among others.
“Providing incentives to businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar and developing mechanisms to enable them to sell surplus power back into the grid.”
Recently Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana proposed to provide embattled power utility Eskom with R254 billion in debt relief over the next three years.
The Presidency said this move by the National Treasury will enable Eskom to make necessary investments in maintenance and transmission.
“A National State of Disaster has been declared under the Disaster Management Act. This will enable additional measures to be implemented to mitigate the social and economic effects of load shedding and accelerate the measures necessary to close the shortfall in electricity.
“These and other measures are clearly outlined in the same affidavit from which certain media outlets have selectively and inaccurately quoted.”
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