The ANC has proposed a national state of emergency, which is intended to address the country’s electricity crisis, but does not automatically guarantee energy security.
However, there is a possibility of the country collapsing as a whole, if the government handles the crisis before there is anything to do.
This is the opinion of independent energy and political analyst Tshepo Kgadima, after President Cyril Ramaphosa completed the National Executive Committee (NEC) Lekgotla on Monday evening, confirming the suggestion among party leaders that the electricity crisis requires a response similar to that used to fight Covid. -19 pandemic.
Less than 24 hours after Ramaphosa’s remarks, the country has once again descended into stages 5 and 6, as the ailing Eskom limps from one crisis to another.
A state of disaster should be a last resort
However, Kgadima believes that such a move should be the last resort resorted to under the circumstances.
“One of the unintended consequences of declaring a State of National Disaster will be the default by Eskom on the bond, which is over R400 billion, which will also cause cross-default by all State-Owned Companies (SOCs) and will certainly lead to the privatization of Eskom through the ‘backdoor’.
“The State of National Disaster has the brutal effect of revoking the rights and freedoms of citizens which is illegal and unconstitutional, as well as giving all laws related to Eskom as a statutory body, and the SOC which is regulated together with the Public Financial Management Act. (PFMA), ” said Kgadima The Warga.
On the face of it, the announcement by Ramaphosa has the practical effect of a ‘No Confidence Vote’ on the Eskom board.
“The best course of action is that the president and the minister of Cooperatives and Traditional Affairs (COGTA) pledge to participate in important but extensive public consultations with political parties in Parliament, civil society organizations, and organized business formations, where the details of suitability, efficacy, effects the practical and measurable results that will be realized from declaring a state of disaster in Eskom will be discussed,” said Kgadima.
It was the ANC that caused the disaster
Another energy expert Hilton Trollip said National State Disasters are intended and usually declared as a result of an external event, such as a virus pandemic or a weather event, which causes a change in the country’s basic legal framework that cannot deal with the problem.
But in this case, the same people who caused the disaster, the South African government and State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) who broke the rules and regulations, tried to make it easier to bypass the rules to solve the problem.
“This is very worrying because now the Eskom Parliamentary inquiry, the Zondo Commission, the Public Protector’s report, and many other analyzes of what happened in Eskom, show that many of the problems have gone through the government itself, undermining its own laws and regulations. framework and breaking the law and undermining institutions such as National Prosecuting Authority (NPA),” said Trollip.
Trollip said that if the government is unable to define goals that cannot be achieved due to legislative obstacles and how the State of National Disaster will help achieve those goals, then it is illegal to allow them to undermine the law.
“I think this is a desperate step in the period that will take place until next year’s general election, to try and ensure that we do not lose the election, because many commentators including polls indicate that electrical disasters and related disasters will occur. for a huge impact in the election.
“Voters should make a clear voice to hear about the disastrous performance of this government and I think that the National State of Disaster was declared to cover the disastrous performance of the government,” said Trollip.
Legal expert Dr Llewellyn Curlewis said declaring a State of National Disaster as an attempt to address the country’s electricity crisis is unlikely to yield positive results.
While Ramaphosa said the proposed National State of Disaster would seek to address the electricity crisis quickly in a shorter time frame than the previous government’s 18-24 months, Curlewis argued that the measure could only evaporate into thin air.
“The President and his colleagues can focus more on the maintenance issues at Eskom, which should have been done for a long time.
“The State of the National Disaster Covid-19 is a derivative example of what is happening because suddenly there are many powers given to the committee established to deal with the challenges without the oversight of the Parliament…
“I think they should have preferred a State of Emergency,” Curlewis said.
Grid collapse is a real possibility. How do you prevent chaos if it happens?
Curlewis said it will be up to law enforcement agencies to ensure that there is no violence, as well as to ensure that the Eskom power station is safeguarded in the event of a full box collapse.
Millions of Rand have been spent on maintaining our power stations, with the military deployed to prevent sabotage and other criminal activities.
“The government, led by President Cyril Ramaphosa who is also the Commander of the SANDF, also has a responsibility to prevent looting. Maybe a lot of emphasis should be placed on people who want to destroy our infrastructure,” said Curlewis.
He said members of the general public also have a simple responsibility, which is to believe and vote for the party of their choice, and if services are not provided, the same person can be elected.
“There is a lot of power vested in one party, which tends to be abused.
“We as a country must reach a point when we choose the best people for the job. Yes, political parties can choose people they like at the provincial level, but when it comes to the national government, issues of national interest must come first,” added Curlewis.
Another legal expert Adv Francois Botes said that if the national power grid collapses, South Africans will hardly be able to recover.
“This is a disaster for two reasons, because it will take the national electricity grid more than five days to restore supply and secondly the country’s economy and the manufacturing industry cannot bear the state of the grid collapsing completely,” said Botes.
Civil unrest is the only language the government knows?
Botes believes civil uprisings will occur if the government is unable, and in no position to secure basic services.
“It is difficult to prevent large-scale looting, in other words, a more intensive and more extensive scale of looting on a larger scale than what we have experienced in June / July 2021, and what we are seeing is that our country’s security groups are not ‘ had neither the manpower nor the infrastructure to fight the insurgency.
“It is direct and reasonable that if the population is impoverished in terms of basic services, or if the population has lost confidence and faith in the government of the day, the civil uprising is the only other effective platform. the public to vent their frustration against the state,” he said.
Commenting on the proposed state of disaster, Botes said the government should think twice before deciding to impose a National State of Disaster as a result of its own inefficiency in providing basic services.
“There is no one else to blame and criticize except the government, because they created this situation and the government is the author of its own destiny.
“The government created a platform and an environment that only makes BUMN unable to provide basic services, and we know for a fact that the work of cadres in a certain framework and the way appointments are made.
“Therefore, it is almost impossible to say that the government is not to blame for what we are currently experiencing,” said Botes.
Botes added that it is the electorate that will ensure that the government does not escape from a situation that cannot be done by reasonable citizens.