Pan Africanist Congress president, Mzwanele Nyhontso says South Africa must tap into its natural resources and deploy qualified people to resolve the challenge of load shedding.
Nyhontso was addressing his party’s rally in Thohoyandou, Limpopo on Saturday.
South Africa has been grappling with electricity challenges since 2008. The seemingly insurmountable rolling blackouts have led to many small businesses ceasing operations.
Nyhontso says South Africa should continue utilising coal to generate electricity. He believes corruption is also one of the major causes of load shedding.
“The problem with load shedding is corruption. The first thing to root out corruption. We also understand that South Africa is a free country. If we want to use coal we must use coal. We must not be told by other countries how to use our resources,” says Nyhontso.
Nyhontso also bemoaned what he calls corruption in law enforcement agencies.
“As long as we have these people who are there to protect individuals, from NPA to fudges … if it’s true that some judgments are seen by other people before they are released in court, we are a banana republic,” Nyhontso added.
Meanwhile, Nyhontso and the party’s national executive committee paid tribute to one of PAC’s founding members, Josias Madzunga who hailed from Vhembe.
Madzunya, who died in 1989, was banished to his home village of Tshidzini by the apartheid government. His family says the struggle icon was uncompromising in his advocacy for free education.
“He was very passionate about free education. He was ahead of his time. Even when we were growing up he did not pay school fees for us. We attended school for free,” says Vhulahani Madzunya, Josias Madzunya’s daughter.
Nyhontso will conclude his visit in Vuwani on Sunday.
Video: ANC is to blame for SA’s energy crisis: PAC President
