CAPE TOWN – The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for an urgent parliamentary debate on load shedding.
Eskom implemented stage two load shedding on Sunday and more rolling blackouts are expected this week.
The DA says it’s important for Speaker Baleka Mbete to grant its request for an urgent debate because of the impact that the power outages are having on small businesses.
During his State of the Nation Address this month, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced plans to unbundle the state-owned power utility into three entities; generation, transmission, and distribution.
The DA’s Natasha Mazzone says that power failures are the country’s biggest crisis right now.
“Yes, undoubtedly maintenance is to blame but this is a direct result of years of mismanagement, corruption, and the wrong people being allowed to loot the state-owned entity.”
Eskom says stage two load shedding will continue until 10 pm on Monday because the power system remains constrained following a number of plant breakdowns on Sunday.
