Maimane accuses Zuma of sidestepping Eskom crisis
The Democratic Alliance's parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane says the President is keeping the idea of apartheid alive so that he can sidestep the current electricity crisis.
“He's the only one in South Africa missing apartheid. Because so long as he can keep apartheid alive, that will give him an excuse for his government's poor performance ” Maimane said.
He was addressing a group of protestors outside Eskom's headquarters in Sunninghill.
President Zuma said during the ANC's 103rd birthday celebrations in Cape Town that the apartheid government only provided electricity for a few South Africans.
“There’s a belief out there that the electricity challenge is a result of the failure of government of lack of leadership.
“The economy of apartheid was racially skewed and structured to take care of the minority, not the majority of the country.”
“We don’t feel guilty about the energy issue. It is not our problem of today, but a historic problem, one of apartheid, that we are resolving.” he said.
Energy expert Chris Yelland says the reason why Eskom can't supply enough electricity is because of the synchronisation delay of the Medupi and Kusile power stations.
“Underlying all the consequential reasons is the fact that Medupi and Kusile are running ten years late. Five years as a result of policy indecision by the government,[...] and a further five years because of execution delay.”
