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Cape Town - Steps had been taken to rectify power supply problems related to Eskom including the building of two large coal-fired power stations but these projects had been delayed because some of the international contractors had let South Africa down, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown said in a debate on the crisis this week.
Ending the debate sought by the Democratic Alliance, Brown said if everything had gone according to plan Medupi and Kusile power stations “should have been delivering by now”. If that had happened “we would not be having this debate”.
Acknowledging that the big power projects were running “three to four years late”, Brown said there were a number of reasons for the massive delays. “Some of the international contractors we hired… let us down very badly. We lost many months as we tried to rectify these mistakes,” said Brown.
Work stoppages “as the result of strikes” had also delayed the build programme, she said.
In contrast to other ANC MPs who spoke in the debate – who did not acknowledge that there was a power problem – Brown also accepted that government “has to share … the blame” for the load shedding and the tough environment for the provision of power going forward. “We have to accept that we probably took the decision to build the power stations later than we should have,” said Brown.
The decision to build the two stations was taken in 2004.
READ:
As it happened: Load shedding pains Eskom - CEO
EXCLUSIVE: 6 reasons why Eskom is load shedding
She appealed to opposition parties to work with government to resolve the problems at Eskom. “This is not the time for blame,” she said, suggesting instead that it was time to “pull together as a nation”.
Brown said “as we speak” Eskom executives were at “a breakaway” defining the details of a plan to stabilise the power situation. She expected the first unit at Medupi to provide power - some 800 megawatts - in the middle of next year, but she acknowledged that “the next few years will be tough”.
Mmusi Maimane, the DA parliamentary leader, said the crisis “is holding the economy to ransom and making a mockery of our attempts to create jobs”. The DA believed that the only way to solve the crisis was with greater participation from the private sector and the introduction of independent power producers.
The solution did not lie in state-sponsored mega projects such as the Rosatom nuclear deal with Russia. “This will undoubtedly suffer from the same cost and time escalations that have been seen at Medupi and Kusile, and leave our people in the dark for years to come.”
He called for the Independent System and Market Operator Bill (ISMO) “that was first committed to by President Jacob Zuma in 2010 and again this year … and table it before parliament in the coming year”.
Themba Godi, African People’s Convention leader, said: “The events at Eskom are of concern to all South Africans.” The capacity to provide an uninterrupted supply of energy is critical to the economy and households. The energy challenges of South Africa were not just about keeping the lights on, he said, but providing universal access of energy “to the slums and rural areas”.
Deirdre Carter, Cope MP, said the only difference between South Africa and the Titanic – which sank in 1912 – was that “the Titanic’s lights were on when it sank”.
Ending the debate sought by the Democratic Alliance, Brown said if everything had gone according to plan Medupi and Kusile power stations “should have been delivering by now”. If that had happened “we would not be having this debate”.
Acknowledging that the big power projects were running “three to four years late”, Brown said there were a number of reasons for the massive delays. “Some of the international contractors we hired… let us down very badly. We lost many months as we tried to rectify these mistakes,” said Brown.
Work stoppages “as the result of strikes” had also delayed the build programme, she said.
In contrast to other ANC MPs who spoke in the debate – who did not acknowledge that there was a power problem – Brown also accepted that government “has to share … the blame” for the load shedding and the tough environment for the provision of power going forward. “We have to accept that we probably took the decision to build the power stations later than we should have,” said Brown.
The decision to build the two stations was taken in 2004.
READ:
As it happened: Load shedding pains Eskom - CEO
EXCLUSIVE: 6 reasons why Eskom is load shedding
She appealed to opposition parties to work with government to resolve the problems at Eskom. “This is not the time for blame,” she said, suggesting instead that it was time to “pull together as a nation”.
Brown said “as we speak” Eskom executives were at “a breakaway” defining the details of a plan to stabilise the power situation. She expected the first unit at Medupi to provide power - some 800 megawatts - in the middle of next year, but she acknowledged that “the next few years will be tough”.
Mmusi Maimane, the DA parliamentary leader, said the crisis “is holding the economy to ransom and making a mockery of our attempts to create jobs”. The DA believed that the only way to solve the crisis was with greater participation from the private sector and the introduction of independent power producers.
The solution did not lie in state-sponsored mega projects such as the Rosatom nuclear deal with Russia. “This will undoubtedly suffer from the same cost and time escalations that have been seen at Medupi and Kusile, and leave our people in the dark for years to come.”
He called for the Independent System and Market Operator Bill (ISMO) “that was first committed to by President Jacob Zuma in 2010 and again this year … and table it before parliament in the coming year”.
Themba Godi, African People’s Convention leader, said: “The events at Eskom are of concern to all South Africans.” The capacity to provide an uninterrupted supply of energy is critical to the economy and households. The energy challenges of South Africa were not just about keeping the lights on, he said, but providing universal access of energy “to the slums and rural areas”.
Deirdre Carter, Cope MP, said the only difference between South Africa and the Titanic – which sank in 1912 – was that “the Titanic’s lights were on when it sank”.
