Expert Says Cyril Ramaphosa Is Pulling a PR Stunt by Cutting His Trip Short Over Loadshedding “Concern”

• President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to return to South Africa early after Eskom plunged the country into loadshedding Stage 6
• The presidency's spokesperson says Ramaphosa will not be attending the United Nations General Assembly as planned
• South Africans believe that Ramaphosa's urgency to return home will not solve anything and might as well complete his trip

JOHANNESBURG - The Office of the Presidency has announced that President Cyril Ramaphosa will cut his international trip short to deal with the loadshedding crisis.

Ramaphosa left South Africa for Washington DC to meet with American President Joe Biden last week. On Monday, 19 September, the president will attend Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, and instead of flying to the United Nations General Assembly, he will return to Mzansi.

While it might seem like a valiant effort by the president, political analyst Chris Yelland believes that this is all a PR stunt to show that he is concerned about the rolling blackout crisis, reports EWN.

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"I think it's largely political and public relations. I think he needs to send a signal and he intends to send a signal to the public that it is being taken care of at the highest level and that he is deeply concerned and shocked at the development," Yelland said.

According to The Citizen, the Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya stated that the president is alarmed about the country's electricity situation, especially after Ramaphosa made a commitment to fix the power crisis.

Magwenya added that Ramaphosa is returning so he can understand what caused multiple units to trip at different power stations, such as Kusile and Kriel. This is not the first time Ramaphosa has had to abandon international engagements to rush home because of Stage 6 rolling blackouts.

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Take a look at what South Africans have to say about Ramaphosa cutting his trip short:

@momwifecareer said:

"What exactly is Ramaphosa going to do when he arrives back? Jail the saboteurs and fire the ministers and staff who are responsible? He won’t do what he is supposed to do, so he may as well just stay where he is."

@Change1Tg said:

"What are we going to do about this ridiculous loadshedding? Firstly, all Eskom employees should take a significant reduction in salary, maybe between 50% and 70% (let’s call it Stage 6) due to their absolute inability to do their jobs."

@Lekako3 said:

"He hasn't done anything since 2014 when he was the Deputy President, worse now he is the president, so why is he cutting his trip short, he is just going to tell lies as usual."

@sk_wangampela said:

"Tell him, it’s ok! He can stay even after the funeral, we will manage without him, not that there’s nothing his presence will do or change. Even his war room never brought us any change, really he doesn’t need to cut his whatever short…"

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Loadshedding allegedly sparks a fire, Eastern Cape family loses everything in blaze

Briefly News previously reported that a family was left homeless with just the clothes on their back after their home was destroyed allegedly by an electrical explosion. Fortunately, no one was injured during the blaze.

The fire allegedly ignited due to a power surge when electricity returned after loadshedding on Friday, 9 September. Neighbours of the Dlisani family attempted to put out the fire with buckets of water, but their attempts went in vain.

Speaking to News24, Siwaphiwe Dlisani said the fire destroyed everything in the house, and nothing was salvageable. She said her sister was cooking earlier that day, and when the power was restored, there was an explosion shortly after.

Source: Briefly News