Moments ago, South Africans turned on their radios and television screens, and looked down at their phones, to see the news that Eskom has once again plunged our country into load shedding. Over the coming days and weeks, South Africa is set to once again lose over R500 million per stage of loadshedding, per day.

Now imagine a South African city where you never have to live in fear of load shedding ever again. Imagine a city where the lights are always one. Where businesses spend money on hiring more workers rather than on generators and fuel, where students no longer have to study by candlelight, and where it is safe for children to play outside because the streetlights never go out.

Now stop imagining.

Because this is exactly what the DA is offering the people of Cape Town on the 1st of November.

Mere hours before Eskom plunged us back into the job-destroying load shedding nightmare, the DA announced our plan to end load shedding in Cape Town. Capetonians already know that the DA uses the Steenbras hydroelectric scheme to protect them against one full stage of load shedding. Over the coming days, with the rest of the country trapped in stage two, things will already be better with Cape Town only on stage one.

But the DA is ready to build on this proven track record by eliminating load shedding altogether and breaking Eskom’s monopoly over electricity generation. Under our plan, Cape Town will procure electricity directly from independent power producers, empower businesses and residents to sell excess electricity via the city’s grid, pump further investments into Steenbras, and build a modern power utility for Cape Town.

By generating and purchasing our own electricity in this way, Cape Town will reduce our dependence on Eskom with its dirty and broken coal-fired power stations, eliminate load shedding, and provide cheaper and greener electricity to power an economic boom in our city.

In less than three weeks, the people of Cape Town can stop imagining a thriving future without load shedding. On 1 November, they have the power to turn this vision in to reality and making this the beginning of the end for load shedding in Cape Town.

A vote for the DA is a vote against load shedding and for a better tomorrow with electricity for all.

 

Issued by DA City of Cape Town Mayoral Candidate, Geordin Hill-Lewis