Page 4 - AfrElec Week 30 2022

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

South Africa’s president outlines

five-point plan to address

electricity supply crisis

COMMENTARY
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa has procurement of new generation capacity,
announced a package of measures that his gov- increasing private investment in generation
ernment will implement to resolve a decades-old capacity, enabling businesses and households
electricity supply crisis that is hampering the to invest in rooftop solar and transforming the
economy and livelihoods. electricity sector and positioning it for future
“The daily power cuts we have been experi- sustainability.
encing have inconvenienced millions of house- To improve its performance, he said, Eskom
holds and have presented huge challenges for will increase its budget for critical maintenance
businesses,” he said in an address to the nation to increase the reliability of its generation capac-
on Monday night (July 25), in which, counter ity. Red tape that has been delaying procurement
to expectations, he did not declare a state of of maintenance spares and equipment will be
disaster. done away with.
“After more than a decade without a reliable The utility will boost its skills set as well and
electricity supply, South Africans are justifiably enhance importation of power from the coun-
frustrated and angry. They are fed up.” try’s neighbours, including Botswana and
Ramaphosa’s five-point plan involves improv- Zambia.
ing the performance of power utility Eskom’s “Over the next three months, Eskom will
existing fleet of power stations, accelerating take additional actions to add new generation

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 30 28•July•2022