Ntshaveni must publicly apologise for lying to South Africans live on TV

Dear Editor

Following hot on the heels of the statement by Hon. Sylvia Lucas that loadshedding is not the end of the world, Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshaveni – during an interview on eNCA with JJ Tabane, stated emphatically that Ministerial houses do not have generators.

With a straight face, Ntshaveni unashamedly told South Africans that “There is no Ministers with generators…honestly there are no generators, it’s a DA whatever. We sit in loadshedding…there is no generators for Ministers. Department of Public Works have come time and again to explain, there are no Ministers with generators…so we are all in the same boat”.

Ntshaveni lied and she must publicly apologize for blatantly misleading the nation. In 2022, I submitted a parliamentary question to the then Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, Patricia de Lille, on generators at ministerial houses and the costs associated therewith. De Lille’s response not only confirmed that the majority of ministerial houses were equipped with generators but that 13 had received brand new generators and the state (read taxpayers) had provided diesel for these generators to the tune of R 2.6 million in total at that stage.

For all intents and purposes, taxpayers are still paying for diesel that powers these generators and for Ntshaveni to deny their existence, is the pinnacle of arrogance that has come to define President Cyril Ramaphosa’s administration. I will be submitting questions to Minister Zikalala to ascertain the subsequent cost to taxpayers of keeping the Ministers locked in their fantasy world where loadshedding has zero impact.

In the meantime, loadshedding, while currently at lower levels, is continuing to impact those who are not part of the political elite.

While the ANC continues to double down on its fabrication that the end of loadshedding is in sight, the facts remain in direct contrast. The Energy Availability Factor (EAF) – an indicator of the availability of a power station to supply energy when it is needed – has hit a record low, bottoming out at 50.48%. This follows a gradual decline over the past 12 months, despite the Minister of Electricity, Dr Ramokgopa, not only overstating the EAF on several occasions, but also assuring us that the EAF would hit 65% in March 2024. Call me pessimistic, but I am not holding my breath.

The ANC appear to have gone down the rabbit hole into an alternative universe where truth and lies are indistinguishable. It is time for the Democratic Alliance to take the reins of our country and implement our Rescue Plan for South Africa. Until we start taking proactive, decisive and anti-populist decisions around our energy sector, we will not be able to address this energy crisis. We need to remove Eskom’s monopoly by bringing in private participants into generation and distribution. We need to invest heavily in transmission and we need to incentivize private electricity generation by turning consumers into prosumers who get paid for their generation.

The Democratic Alliances will work towards protecting all South Africans from loadshedding, unlike the ANC who only protect the political elite.

Regards

Samantha Graham-Maré MP
DA Shadow Minister of Electricity