Petition to sell Northern Cape and pay off the Eskom debt
A petition has been launched in which President Cyril Ramaphosa is urged to sell the Northern Cape (NC) to Namibia for R420 billion in order to erase the debt at State Owned Enterprise (SOE), Eskom.
In 2018, debt at the embattled utility reached R400 billion.
The petition was started by Capetonian, Aidan van Niekerk, on Sunday.
It can be found at change.org and is titled 'Sell Northern Cape to Namibia for R420 billion to erase Eskom's debt'.
Speaking to Jacaranda FM News, Van Niekerk says the petition has already garnered some 300 signatures by Tuesday morning.
The Capetonian says the reason for this petition is because Eskom has too much debt and taxpayers are tired of paying for bailouts.
Van Niekerk says he found motivation for his decision because the Northern Cape is not a populous area.
"We will sit with a smaller country, but a debt-free power provider and look, to be honest, there is not much that goes on in the Northern Cape. So, I don't how much of a loss it will be in the greater scheme of things.
"I checked this morning and I think we are close to 290 so I would like that number to pump, but we'll see in the coming weeks."
The Northern Cape is known for its rich mineral resources and renewable energy
However, Van Niekerk says to him, what is more important is what can be found on the ground, rather that which can be produced from underground
"We will make R420 billion in an instant so R420 billion in terms of diamonds. That's a lot of diamonds we will need to mine. I'm no mining expert, but that will take quite a bit of time." van Niekerk said
Van Niekerk says he has received both positive and negative feedback from residents of the province.
"I have gotten people who are very upset at me saying there is nothing going on in their province, but I've had people who are keen for independence and some saying that they don't see the work done by the government," adds Van Niekerk.