Cyril Ramaphosa Says Eskom Will Rehire Former Employees to Fix the Power Utility and End Loadshedding

• President Cyril Ramaphosa recently outlined the government's plans to fix the failing state-owned power utility, Eskom
• Ramaphosa stated that a few measures will be put in place, such as the rehiring of former Eskom employees
• South Africans are not convinced that change will come so easily and say that the president is simply making the right noises

TSHWANE - President Cyril Ramaphosa held a state of the nation address to speak about Eskom and the loadshedding crisis in South Africa.

Ramaphosa announced several proposed plans to fix Eskom, including rehiring former Eskom employees and other skilled personnel to tackle the issues within the state-owned power utility.

The president stated that the skilled professionals will be sourced both locally and abroad, according to SABC News. Ramaphosa further added that additional generation capacity will be procured from power plants with extra capacity in the next three months.

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Other measures to deal with the power crisis include allowing ordinary households to generate their own power through the use of solar panels, and they will also be allowed to sell their power to Eskom to add to the national grid.

Ramaphosa stated that the involvement of the private sector in energy generation will be accelerated and an additional baseload of renewable energy will be procured.

Law enforcement officials will also be deployed to tackle criminality at Eskom and the 100MW licencing threshold for importing electricity will be scrapped.

In terms of criminality, Ramaphosa noted that criminals are stealing spares from power stations and selling them back to Eskom, adding that they are being targeted by criminal syndicates.

The president added that should government meet the proposed deadlines for the new measures, South Africa's energy crisis will come to an end soon and jobs will be created, according to Fin24.

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@UUmgozi said:

"Ramaphosa made the right noises. We remain sceptical as we have heard promises before. But there are some positives. 100MW limits scrapped. People (businesses and residences) can sell electricity back. This creates opportunities for micro-grids."

@LindequeEddie1 said:

"President Ramaposa made all the right noises tonight, such as bringing skills back and fast passing electricity procurement."

@ALETTAHA said:

"It's the #DA's plan. The #anc cannot think up a plan to get out of the bat without help."

@Shareef_ZA said:

"The country with all kinds of plans. Zero action and implementation."

Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe shades Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter, says he lacks skills to fix power utility

Briefly News previously reported that Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe recently shaded Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter. Mantashe stated that he does not believe that the state-owned power utility head is the right man to return Eskom to its former glory.

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Mantashe stated that Eskom needs a "fixer", and De Ruyter does not have the necessary skill set to fix Eskom's many problems. The African National Congress national chairperson made these remarks in an interview with the Mail & Guardian.

De Ruyter holds several qualifications, including a Bachelor of Law degree from Unisa and a Master of Business Administration from a Netherlands university.

Source: Briefly News