As Leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), I am extremely proud to be here in Atlantis, Cape Town, the heart of this city’s green economy.

Just a few months ago, due to the hard work of the DA-run Western Cape Government and then MEC of Economic Opportunities, Alan Winde, we witnessed the launch of the Atlantis Special Economic Zone (SEZ) which will focus on the green economy and clean, renewable energy. This SEZ is set to attract R3.7 billion in investment and create nearly 3000 new job opportunities by the year 2030, and illustrates the advancements DA-run governments are pursuing in order to reform our energy sector through technology and innovation.

Under DA governance, this province has become the green hub of Africa, leading the way forward in renewable energy and green technology.

Today we find ourselves in a province that is a ray of light during our nation’s energy crisis. As part of the province’s Energy Game Changer initiative, as many as 85% of all municipalities in this province have laws in place to allow for solar energy to be installed and to feed this power back into the grid.

In addition to this, the City of Cape Town remains resolute in its legal challenge to secure the right to procure energy directly from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). It defies reason that in 2019 we are debating whether a government should have the right to buy and sell renewable energy, yet the ANC national government continues to hold our country back.

Eskom continues to stifle innovation and progress in the energy sector. Over R400 billion debt, severe diesel and coal undersupply, plant maintenance malfunctioning, bloated staff contingent, and captured executives is what is sinking Eskom. As a province, we must break free for the Eskom stranglehold. Political agendas and special interests that dominate ANC energy decision-making cannot hold back progress any longer.

The Eskom substation behind us today is currently running on diesel – an unaffordable and environmentally unfriendly source of power. The turbine generators that power this plant, like many others across the province, can be powered by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) which is both a cheaper and cleaner source of energy.

We already have a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Saldanha Bay that we could import gas through easily and in a sustainable manner, and it comes with a much lower price tag than diesel. And we have done the studies and have worked with Transnet on an actionable plan for importation through Saldanha.

All that is missing now is the political will. Former Minister of Energy, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, refused to give the Western Cape a licence to import LNG. It is for this reason that I will today be writing the Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, requesting that he allocate a licence to the Western Cape to start importing Liquid-Natural-Gas (LNG) to run turbine generators in the province.

The Western Cape and the City of Cape Town have not resorted to spectating during a time of crisis. They have rolled up their sleeves and are working exceptionally hard to shield the people of Cape Town from this ANC-created mess. Here, maintenance work is underway to mitigate risks from power surges when turned off, while pursuing alternative ways of producing energy in order to keep the lights on.

And they are not alone. Yesterday, I met with DA mayors of Cape Town, Johannesburg and Tshwane – tasking them with the formulation and execution of disaster management plans to mitigate the damage being caused to critical infrastructure and service delivery by unreliable and intermittent energy supply.

In addition to this, every DA mayor in the country to, where appropriate and possible, will write to the Minister of Energy, Jeff Radebe, requesting a determination in terms of Section 34 of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006 allowing those municipalities to bypass Eskom and procure electricity directly from Independent Power Producers (IPPs).

Every DA-run municipality in the country will also explore the viability and sustainability of adopting a by-law to regulate Small Scale Embedded Generation such as solar PV at businesses and residential homes. This would allow individuals with the capacity to generate their own energy to feed surplus energy into the grid and in turn credit their accounts. This by-law already exists here in City of Cape and 18 other DA-run municipalities and there is no reason it cannot be adopted all across the country.

The DA has a plan to fix this ANC-created energy crisis. where we are in government we are working hard to ensure we mitigate the crisis and seek innovative solutions to reform our energy sector, break down the Eskom monopoly, and ultimately keep the lights on.