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Business Insider SA writes that more than a week ago, on 11 July, President Cyril Ramaphosa headlined his regular weekly newsletter with "We can and will do more to end load shedding".
He acknowledged the sentiment that came with Stage 6 load shedding, but effectively asked for just a little more patience, as the hard work already being done behind the scenes was completed. The President wrote: "Over the past two weeks, we have been working with the relevant ministers and senior officials on a range of additional measures to accelerate all efforts to increase our electricity supply. The message is clear: this is no time for business as usual. We need to act boldly to make load shedding a thing of the past. We will soon be completing the detailed work and consultations needed to finalise these further measures. We will then, in the coming days, be able to announce a comprehensive set of actions to achieve much faster progress in tackling load shedding." There has been no such announcement. Instead, since then, Ramaphosa's spokesperson said the President was "anxious" to address the nation on Eskom, while his administration appeared to float the idea of declaring a "power emergency". Neither has happened yet. Late last week, Ramaphosa said he supported the idea of an Eskom 2.0 built within government, as proposed by his energy minister Gwede Mantashe, to create competition in electricity generation while not allowing privatisation. By the weekend, Ramaphosa appeared to have cooled somewhat to the idea, saying Eskom must come first, while Eskom 2.0 can wait. Luckily in the time since Ramaphosa promised swift action in the face of immediate anger, the forecast for electricity rationing has improved, with Eskom saying things will look much better towards the end of July.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Phillip de Wet at Business Insider SA
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