Fikile Mbalula Says State Capture Brought Us Loadshedding, South Africans Agree With ANC Secretary-General

Fikile Mbalula Says State Capture Brought Us Loadshedding, South Africans Agree With ANC Secretary-General

  • ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has admitted that loadshedding and the Eskom crisis were caused by state capture under the governing party
  • Mbalula stated in a television interview that the ANC had plans for the energy sector, but they were all derailed by corruption
  • South Africans are glad that the ANC is finally acknowledging the impact of state capture

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JOHANNESBURG - ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula has finally said something that South Africans agree with.

ANC SG Fikile Mbalula speaks on loadshedding and state capture
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says state capture caused loadshedding. Images: @MbalulaFikile/Twitter & Ihsaan Haffejee
Source: Getty Images

Mbalula recently stated that loadshedding was caused by state capture under the governing party. Mbalula made these remarks after an ANC press briefing on Tuesday, 31 January.

Mbalula stated that the ANC has always had a plan for energy security and electricity, but that was all disrupted by several years of political corruption.

The ANC SG explained in an interview on Newzroom Afrika that the ANC has supplied poorer households with electricity as promised, but the governing party's problems started with state capture.

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"State capture brought us where we are. State capture under our government. That is why we say there was the good and bad, and what was bad was state capture," said Mbalula.

Mbalula added that during the state capture days, governance was hollowed out. He added that there are now incorrect claims about people who were at the helm of Eskom dealing with loadshedding.

ANC says financial resources are needed to deal with loadshedding

During the ANC's two-day lekgotla, the ruling party agreed that the loadshedding problem needed financial resources to fix, according to TimesLIVE.

Mbalula stated that the ANC government wants to reprioritise funding and channel it to Eskom to end loadshedding by December. The money will be used to service Eskom's debt, maintain and expand power stations, and add more megawatts to the grid.

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South Africans unconvinced that the ANC's plan to declare Eskom a state of disaster will work

South Africans weigh in on Fikile Mbalula's comments on state capture

While many South Africans agree with Mbalula that loadshedding was caused by state capture under the ANC, they have also noted that Mbalula was in government during that time.

Here are some comments:

@KlevaBlac said:

"No lies there... except he is being economical with the truth by not stating that the State capture was coordinated by the ANC itself."

@Mphumzi_fodo said:

"He was a Minister of Police and later became a minister of Sport under that captured state."

@pagainstthewind

"ANC=STATE CAPTURE."

@RamafaloMoses said:

"For the first time, Fikile Mbalula says something with sense. Had he been so genuine in all his political career he wouldn't have been in a fortification."

@Badhat6 said:

"The ANC is a criminal cartel that harbours and continues to protect criminals. They were fully aware of the feeding frenzy of their comrades and chose to protect them in parliament. This is ripe coming from a minister who failed in every portfolio that he held."

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Presidency remains quiet amid reports of Mabuza allegedly offering to step down to pave way for Mashatile

@feeshm said:

"And he's only seeing this now??"

South Africans Slam ANC’s decision to declare Eskom a state of disaster: “About 6 months too late”

Briefly News previously reported that the African National Congress has resolved to take the country's energy crisis seriously.

During an ANC NEC lekgotla on Monday, 30 January, President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that declaring Mzansi's energy crisis a state of disaster is on the cards.

According to TimesLIVE, the president stated that preparations such as legal requirements are underway for the declaration to be made.

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Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Lebogang Mashego avatar

Lebogang Mashego (Current Affairs HOD) Lebogang Mashego runs the Current Affairs desk. She joined the Briefly News team in 2021. She has 6 years of experience in the journalism field. Her journalism career started while studying at Rhodes University, where she worked for the Oppidan Press for 3 years. She worked as a lifestyle writer and editor at W24 and Opera News. She graduated with a BA degree majoring in Journalism and Media Studies in 2017. She's a recipient of the INMA Elevate Scholarship. Email: lebogang.mashego@briefly.co.za