By: Natasha Archary
After the fourth consecutive day of loadshedding was implemented on Thursday, the DA has called for the loadshedding crisis to be declared a state of disaster.
Declaring the party’s resolution to place the issue on the agenda at the next cabinet meeting, the opposition party said people are sick and tired of the rolling blackouts.
In a livestream on 12 May, DA MPs, Solly Malatsi, Kevin Mileham, Ghaleb Cachalia and Mayor Gesie van Deventer, spoke about how the DA in the Western Cape are looking at ways to be rid of Eskom’s grip on the province.
In February, the party announced that Cape Town is on track to become the first loadshedding free city.
Now, the Stellenbosch Municipality says they have plans to make Stellenbosch loadshedding free. Continuous roll-out of solar panel installations on municipal buildings is where the DA will start.
The aim is to make the province less reliant on Eskom and the loadshedding crisis which is costing the country R500 million per stage, per day.
The DA have started an online petition to end loadshedding which requires 20 000 signatures.
According to the DA, they have a plan to stabilise and secure South Africa’s power supply through a Cheaper Energy Bill.
They seek to break Eskom into two parts to make electricity cheaper and more reliable through the following measures:
- Privatise electricity generation. This includes allowing citizens to generate their own power to keep the lights on.
- Change the law so businesses and individuals can sell the extra electricity they generate onto the grid for others to use.
- Offer a R75 000 tax rebate to cover the cost of installing solar systems in homes, to take pressure off the grid.
- Zero-rate VAT on LED lightbulbs and energy-efficient appliances.
- Ease the regulatory requirements for sub 100MW generation, to bring small Independent Power Producers (IPPs) online quicker.
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