Opposition parties have raised their concerns over the National State of Disaster on the energy crisis, saying the move could pave way for rampant corruption.
During his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last night, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a National State of Disaster as the country endures rolling blackouts amid the electricity crisis.
Ramaphosa also announced his intent to appoint a Minister of Electricity in the Presidency to work with Eskom’s leadership on ending power cuts.
Action SA says this could be turned into what it calls a “national state of looting”, as the move could pave the way for corruption.
Party leader, Herman Mashaba, has questioned the possible cost implications of adding a new ministry to the cabinet.
“As far as I am concerned, we have created a national state of looting. My view is that President Cyril Ramaphosa is throwing money at a problem instead of reducing it. SA requires us to streamline our departments because the cabinet is too huge and ineffective. The problem is you can’t just throw money at it. He is adding another ministry. You can imagine with a full ministry, the cost implications thereof.”
The African Transformation Movement’s Vuyo Zungula shares the sentiments, saying he also disagrees with the forming of a new ministry position.
“It is the wrong decision. What the president is effectively trying to do, is make it look like he is doing something by creating these cabinet ministries in the presidency whereas he should not try to do that in an electricity crisis.”
Inkatha Freedom Party National Spokesperson, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, says these moves could cause confusion.
“The presidency has ordered confusion to the mix. He’s got the minister of energy dealing with policy, then the shareholder representative in public enterprises, you’ve got the minister of COGTA who is going to be managing the electricity crisis through the National State of Disaster. You have a minister of electricity coming up. So, clearly the president has a problem with the cabinet, and he is creating a mega-presidency. Everytime a minister of department fails, he doesn’t fire them, the just takes on the responsibility into the presidency.”
DA to take legal action
Meanwhile, the Democratic Alliance (DA) has confirmed that it will challenge the latest announcement of a National State of Disaster in court, saying the move could pave the way for corruption.
DA Leader John Steenhuisen says: “It’s completely unnecessary to be able to address the crisis. To have a National State of Disaster is going to open floodgates once again to the same corruption and looting that we saw take place during the last State of Disaster over the COVID-19 period. It is a gimmick to make it look like you are doing something without getting to grips with the real thing that should have been done to deal with the electricity crisis. There is nothing you can do in a National State of Disaster that you wouldn’t be able to do in an ordinary course of focused interventions on Eskom and the energy crisis itself.”
In the report below, state of disaster to deal with electricity crisis:
