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Cape Town - The Democratic Alliance has formally asked President Thabo Mbeki to appoint an independent commission of inquiry into South Africa's power-supply crisis.
DA minerals and energy spokesperson Hendrik Schmidt said on Tuesday he had written to Mbeki in this regard.
Schmidt said: "According to Eskom's annual report for 2005, South Africa's peak demand in the winter months is about 35 000MW, while Eskom's maximum capacity is 40 000MW.
"International norms suggest that Eskom should have at least 10 000MW in reserve for emergency purposes - however it only has about 5 000MW."
This meant any extensive maintenance work or damage to electricity facilities, as in the case of the recent transmission line problems and the bolt in Koeberg's generator, would always result in severe shortages and power blackouts.
This had already cost businesses over half a billion rand in Cape Town, and if it continued it could cost billions more.
It was therefore in the public interest that the exact details of why this situation developed were made clear.
It was also in the public interest that any responsible parties be held to account, as this would help ensure this situation would not re-occur, whether in the case of electricity provision or in any other sector, he said.
"It has become all the more imperative that such a commission is urgently appointed now that the Minister of Public Enterprises, Alec Erwin, and the Minister of Minerals and Energy, Lindiwe Hendricks, have discredited themselves in the public eye by making frivolous claims that the Koeberg problems were the result of 'sabotage'.
"Minister Erwin later denied making such a claim, despite television evidence to the contrary.
"This has given the South African public and the international community the impression that government is unwilling to be open and accountable on the issue of electricity shortages," Schmidt said.