The Democratic Alliance (DA) has taken note of comments by André De Ruyter, the Eskom CEO, that he is hoping to revise and accelerate the initial timetable for unbundling and splitting the beleaguered power utility.

We trust that unlike his predecessors, De Ruyter will keep this energy and momentum and follow through in creating a more stable and independent Eskom. It is for this reason that the DA will send him a physical copy of our Private Members’ Bill (PMB), the Independent Electricity Management Operator (IEMO) Bill also known as the Cheaper Electricity Bill.

A copy of the PMB can be accessed here B14-2019-Independent-Electricity-Management-Operator-201912.pdf. 

The DA has for years advocated for Eskom to be broken up into two entities, and these calls have fallen on deaf ears as the looting and regression at the entity continued unabated. Had the ANC government looked past petty politics and reached out across the political divide, Eskom’s unbundling could have been at an advance, if not completed, stage.

In December last year, the DA again urged the our colleagues across the political divide to support our IEMO Bill when I presented it before Parliament. The ANC again succumbed to petty politics and failed to reach across the aisle.

We have reached a stage with Eskom where we have to put our political differences aside, as it is in all of our mutual interests to ensure that Eskom gets back to working for all South Africans.

The DA’s IEMO Bill seeks to break Eskom into two separate entities – a generation entity and transmission/distribution entity. Our plan would see a generation entity which is privatized in an effort to break Eskom’s monopoly on the production of energy, and allowing Independent Power Producers (IPPs) to compete on an equal footing in the generation sector.

Well-functioning metros will be able to source energy directly from IPPs and electricity supply will ultimately become more stable, cleaner and cheaper.

On Tuesday, the North Gauteng Division of the High Court referred the City of Cape Town’s application for a Section 34 ministerial determination to allow the City to procure electricity from Independent Power Producers (IPPs), back to the Intergovernmental Dispute Resolution Framework.  This judgment was unfortunate given the fact that during the 5 years since the City’s initial application, the Minister of Energy has consistently failed to respond and decide on the application.

This is another indication of how petty politics is costing the country from reaching an energy-secure future.

The DA calls on André De Ruyter to look past petty politics and engage our the Cheaper Electricity Bill to ensure greater competition in the electricity market, stabilize the electricity grid an make electricity cheaper for all South African consumers.

 

Issued by The DA