Democratic Alliance (DA) leader John Steenhuisen said on Wednesday that the Eskom electricity crisis is a result of  African National Congress deployed cadres and socialist ideologues and has called for Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe to be replaced. 

The DA leader blamed Stage 6 load-shedding on a small group of illegally striking workers who, he said, were putting their own interests ahead of the nation’s by blocking work at Eskom until their demands for higher salaries were met.

On Tuesday, a 7% wage agreement was finally accepted by the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and the National Union of Mineworkers.

Steenhuisen said the striker’s actions are destroying jobs and businesses, scaring away investment, making communities more dangerous, causing huge inconveniences for people, destroying private appliances and public infrastructure, and impacting service delivery.

Steenhuisen said government must declare a state of disaster in the electricity sector and suspend all bureaucratic obstacles blocking businesses, organisations, municipalities and households from producing, buying and/or selling energy.

“We need to make it easy and attractive for independent power producers to bring new power to the grid at scale and in the shortest possible time. It is inconceivable that in this crisis, the State is blocking them from doing so with cumbersome, irrational regulations,” said Steenhuisen.          

The DA leader added that a state of disaster should also be used to waive black economic empowerment requirements, so that Eskom can follow the most cost-efficient procurement processes to keep electricity prices as low as possible and keep processes as streamlined as possible.

“Arrest, prosecute and fire those Eskom employees who break the law. The unreasonable demands of Eskom employees for even higher salaries should not prevail over the needs of the country and economy at large,” he said.

He called on government to enable a drastic reduction of Eskom’s wage bill, with serious consequences for those who seek to sabotage the system.

Steenhuisen believes that Eskom power stations and their immediate surrounding security zones should be protected by law enforcement who should arrest and prosecute trespassers.