BLSA welcomes President Ramaphosa’s announcements on the country’s power crisis

Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s announcements to help solve the country’s power crisis, saying strong regulations need to be imposed to ensure the funds earmarked for energy solutions are properly utilised.

Ramaphosa addressed the nation on Monday night, announcing the establishment of a National Energy Crisis Committee.

Business Leadership South Africa’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Busisiwe Mavuso says, “This plan really is a move in the right direction. The one thing that I am concerned about is that if he was talking about increasing the budget for maintenance at Eskom, as we should, but Eskom continues to be the ground bearer for state capture.”

“As we put this plan in motion, we are going to have to make sure that we put control interventions that will ensure that the money that goes into Eskom from the fiscus, is put towards its intended use. I worry that whatever funds are put into Eskom, only a fraction will go towards what it is supposed to do,” adds Mavuso.

Below is the full interview with Busisiwe Mavuso:

Meanwhile, the Restaurant Association of South Africa (RASA) says it is concerned about the worsening energy crisis in the country.

This was in reaction to the announcement by President Ramaphosa of measures being put in place to address the electricity crisis.

The association’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Wendy Alberts says, “You know we are talking about the further implementation of solar panels at what cost, with the high-interest rate now, makes it unaffordable. We won’t be able to take a further loan. Our industry is already drowning in debt. We have been crippled by the inability to trade through COVID-19 [hard lockdown duration].”

“There simply aren’t enough resources to be able to put funding together, to put up another energy alternative in place. Everything comes at a cost, the cost to run generators now is very expensive,” adds Alberts.

Eskom will buy electricity from IPPs and import from Zambia and Botswana:

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