Ramaphosa says ‘broad consensus’ in ANC on national state of disaster for power crisis
ANC president Cyril Ramaphosa says there is serious consideration is being given to possibly declaring a national state of disaster as power cuts continue to cripple the economy.
“Work is already under way within government to establish whether the legal requirements of a national state of disaster are met and what specific actions we would be empowered to undertake,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday.
Ramaphosa made the remarks during his closing address at the ANC’s national executive committee lekgotla.
“There is clear direction from the lekgotla that we must resolve the immediate task of load shedding within a much shorter timeframe than what has been projected, and has set out the actions to achieve that.
“There was talk about a national state of disaster, like what we did when we faced Covid-19, and there is broad agreement that we should proceed in that direction. Work is already underway within government to establish whether the legal requirements for the declaration of a national state of disaster are met and what specific actions we would be empowered to undertake to urgently resolve load shedding within the framework of a national state of disaster.
Ramaphosa said the issue would be discussed at this week’s cabinet lekgotla.
“We have looked at the actions we must take now and over the next few months to resolve the electricity crisis, to grow the economy, create employment, to deal with criminality, to tackle poverty and hunger.
“It was observed that it would be necessary to have the national state of disaster because that will enable us to have the instruments that the country faces. This proposal has been articulated in a number of consultations we have held with various stakeholders from traditional leaders, social formations, community-based organisations, trade unions, business and many others.”
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