The Great Energy Hoax

Statement by Kevin Mileham MP – DA Spokesperson on Electricity & Energy:

The DA has today demanded an urgent briefing from Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa on his so-called Eskom unbundling. We demand that he explain, on the record, why his plan keeps the power grid under Eskom’s control and what warnings his department has received from international funders about this risky approach.

We have also submitted a hard-hitting series of Parliamentary Questions to the Minister. We want him to disclose the legal basis for this “split-entity” model.

South Africans need an independent, reliable electricity system that allows private power producers to compete and bring down costs. Minister Ramokgopa’s plan denies them exactly that. By keeping the National Transmission Company South Africa (NTCSA) and the Grid Access Unit (GAU) within Eskom Holdings, he is protecting a failing monopoly instead of creating a fair, competitive market.

This is a mere rebranding of the status quo. Independent Power Producers cannot expect non-discriminatory access to the grid when the gatekeeper reports to the very monopoly it is supposed to compete with. The result: higher electricity prices, slower energy transition, and ongoing supply risk.

International partners are already sounding the alarm. The $8.3 billion Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) funding depends on real, transparent reform. Ramokgopa’s half-hearted plan risks this money, leaving South African taxpayers to cover the R440 billion cost of grid expansion.

President Ramaphosa must make a choice: support the modern, independent grid promised to the world, or allow one Minister to sabotage South Africa’s energy future to protect the ANC’s favourite monopoly.

The DA calls this what it is: The Great Energy Hoax.