The current electricity crisis and the proposed huge jump in tariffs is a manifestation of a disaster-in-waiting, African National Congress (ANC) secretary general and South African Communist Party chairperson Gwede Mantashe said on Thursday.
He was speaking at the May Day celebration at Curries Fountain Stadium in Durban.
”The food prices make the availability of a plate [of food] every night almost a luxury rather than a right and is a reflection of a system that puts profits before people,” he said.
”The oil prices … are a reminder that the international rules are meant for the poor nations … The high interest rates that are used to fight inflation driven by external factors are indeed a blunt tool.”
And all these, said Mantashe, were impacting negatively on the poor and working people.
Mantashe also said the health system in South Africa was headed for a disaster.
”The signs of our health system heading for a disaster are there for all of us to see, whether it is scores of babies dying of drinking contaminated water or babies dying of klebsiella …”
He said the beginning of wisdom will be the tripartite alliance acknowledging the crisis rather than ”just waiting for opposition parties to hurl insults at us”.
He said they were hoping that these problems would be dealt with at the energy summit on May 16.
”It is the responsibility of the alliance partners to be where the people are and provide the necessary leadership and guidance … Our movement must remain the hope of the people and represent their aspirations,” he said.
Mantashe also spoke of workers’ rights and said ”still today” many workers to not enjoy their rights.
May Day, he said, reflected centuries of struggle against exploitation of one man by another.
He said the basic demand of an eight-hour shift or a 40-hour week had not been met ”by our beloved country”.
”This defies the more than a century-long struggle for a human being to have eight hours for working, eight hours for recreation and eight hours for sleeping.”
Hundreds gathered at the stadium, wearing red Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) T-shirts.
Other speakers included Julius Sithole, Cosatu’s deputy chairperson and Thulas Nxesi, a central executive committee member.
Not even a little drizzle or heavy winds prevented the rally from kicking off.
Suspension of load-shedding
Meanwhile, Eskom is to suspend scheduled load-shedding from May 5, the utility’s CEO, Jacob Maroga, said on Wednesday.
”We are seeing evidence of increased energy savings from municipalities and Eskom is optimistic that further reductions to reach our 10% savings target are possible,” said Maroga.
Scheduled power cuts have already been suspended for this week owing to the number of public holidays grouped together and the lower demand typically experienced during such times.
A task team of senior Eskom executives and top officials of municipalities from around South Africa is to meet early next week to discuss the way forward in driving further energy savings to meet the national target.
This meeting is a further follow-up to the formation of the task team on April 18.
”We have said from the beginning that load-shedding is not our preferred option to achieve the 10% savings the nation needs.
”Recent savings, particularly from industry, have shown that it should be possible to achieve this objective sustainably through a concerted and committed effort by all of us,” said Maroga.
”This is the spirit of Eskom’s engagement with municipalities and we hope that the 10% target will be met so that it will not be necessary to reinstate scheduled load-shedding,” he said.
However, Eskom warned that should the national grid come under unexpected pressure, there may be occasions where brief periods of power cuts could be required. — Sapa