Gauteng Disaster Centre ‘a disaster waiting to happen’ - DA

Msimanga visited the centre in Midrand on Monday to assess its readiness should there be a total collapse of the electricity grid or any other disasters.

"To the officials here, to the politicians here, this is a disaster waiting to happen,” he said.

“We need to make sure that this is a place that is capacitated to deal with whatever eventuality. It's snowing today in Joburg. We are sitting in a disaster management centre where there is no one.”

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"People are in workshops talking about other things instead of talking about assisting municipalities,” he adds.

The cold snap on Monday has further increased electricity demand, with Eskom ramping up load-shedding to stage 4 at short notice.

This has further increased fears that Eskom's power grid may not be able to meet the country's electricity demand during the colder weeks. 

Msimanga also said that he does not believe that the disaster centre will be able to deal with an electricity blackout if it had to occur.