Govt ‘determined’ to solve load shedding, Ramaphosa tells investors
President Cyril Ramaphosa has assured local and international investors that South Africa’s electricity woes will soon be a thing of the past.
Ramaphosa delivered the opening address at the SA Investment Conference at the Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday.
“No economy can operate without a reliable supply of electricity,” he told delegates.
“That is why we have undertaken the most extensive transformation of our energy sector in nearly a century.
“In December last year Eskom met its deadline of establishing a separate transmission entity, and is set to complete the process of unbundling into separate entities for generation, transmission and distribution by the end of this year.
“We are moving ahead to facilitate a competitive market for electricity generation, and the establishment of an independent state-owned transmission company.”
ALSO READ: Fifth Covid-19 wave to hit SA in April, May – CSIR
A lack of generation capacity has over the past decade led to regular rolling blackouts.
The private sector has been roped in to assist in making up the deficit.
The licensing threshold for independent power producers has increased from 1 MW to 100 MW.
"And so, even as the country continues to experience intermittent load shedding, we are moving with pace and determination to bring new generation capacity online in the shortest possible time," said Ramaphosa.
Since the beginning of the investment conference in 2018, the government has managed to raise R774 billion in investment commitments.
A total of R316 billion has been invested, which brings the government closer to its five-year target of R1.2 trillion target.
