President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured the nation that attempts were being made to reduce the severity of load shedding with Eskom now implementing lower stages of power cuts.
Ramaphosa said they need to expand intervention measures with a view to ending load shedding.
“We have taken far-reaching measures to deal with the electricity crisis,” Ramaphosa said.
“These range from removing the licensing threshold to enable private investment in energy generation, to improving the performance of Eskom power stations, to encouraging and enabling households and businesses to invest in rooftop solar.”
Ramaphosa, who was addressing the Reconciliation Day event in Limpopo on Saturday, said they were taking all measures to stabilise energy supply.
“These measures are seeing results. There has been a measurable and steady decline in the severity of load shedding over the last few months,” said Ramaphosa.
“We need to accelerate and expand our efforts even further, not only to overcome the immediate crisis, but to ensure that we never face such a shortfall again.”
But the rollout of renewable energy projects to add capacity to the grid has been able to help alleviate the situation.
This week Minister of Minerals and Energy Gwede Mantashe announced another bid window to procure 7,615 MW of renewable energy, gas and battery storage.
This is in addition to return to service of Kusile’s unit 2 at the end of last month. Eskom announced this week that unit 5 at Kusile will be connected to the grid by the end of this year.
He also spoke out against the war in Palestine. He said both Israel and Hamas must find a solution to the conflict.
More than 18,000 people have been killed since the conflict began in October.
The United Nations and aid agencies have called for the cessation of hostilities to allow for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the besieged people of Gaza.
Ramaphosa said the conflict in the Middle East did not start yesterday, but these were old wounds that have been festering for years.
Parliament recently voted on a motion to close the Israeli embassy.
Ramaphosa met with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies early this week where they discussed areas of concern.
In his speech on Saturday, Ramaphosa said the war between Israel and Hamas must come to an end.
“In the Middle East, the conflict between Israel and Hamas, and the devastation being wrought on the Gaza Strip, are a reminder of the tragic outcome when old wounds are left to fester,” said Ramaphosa.
“The dispossession, occupation and discrimination directed against the Palestinian people has endured for over 75 years. As South Africa we have maintained that the only solution to this conflict is a just and lasting peace, and for both sides to come together and reconcile.”
IOL Politics