The African National Congress (ANC) in eThekwini region on Wednesday expressed concern about ongoing loadshedding and its impact on households, businesses and economic development.

Addressing the media, ANC eThekwini regional secretary Musa Nciki said while the recurring power cuts were affecting production and delivery of their services to clients, quality of life was deteriorating in the city. He urged that something drastic be done to mitigate the crisis.

Last week President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a Minister of Electricity would be appointed in the coming days and declared a State of Disaster on the energy crisis during his State of the Nation Address. 

“With increasing unemployment – increasing fuel and food prices, it is very clear that the quality of life is deteriorating in the city. Something drastic must be done,” said Nciki.

The region made it clear that it supports the Provincial Executive Committee (PEC) in KwaZulu-Natal which rejected the implementation of an 18.65% tariff increase by the national energy regulator for the coming financial year and a further 12.74% for the next year.

The region is also concerned that power outages are resulting in public loss of confidence in the ANC-led municipality and the ANC government in general.

Outlining the interventions, the ANC in the region is calling for the speeding up of the procurement of 400 MW of electricity from independent power producers.

The region also wants ANC deployees and all political parties in eThekwini to ensure that clear oversight is exercised to strengthen the work of the City’s Municipal Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme.

The ANC says strong partnerships with experts and other key role-players in the energy sector must be forged and sustained to ensure the availability of skills and resources in the city for the benefit of residents and business.

Nciki shared that the party also supported the Energy Transformation Summit scheduled to take place on March 1 and 2, at the Albert Luthuli International Convention Centre.

CRIME

The ANC in the region also remains concerned about the safety of residents, visitors and businesses and said that the recent murder of musician Kiernan "AKA" Forbes and his close friend, chef Tebello "Tibz" Motsoane was “a sad highlight of the serious problem we are facing”.

They are calling for drastic action to be taken to turn around the situation.

“A united front against crime must be relaunched by the municipality. The municipality must ensure speed in the implementation of a multi-pronged strategy involving all spheres of government. Community policing forums, civil society, labour, Business Against Crime, the Durban Chamber, other key role-players and community formations must be brought closer,” he urged.