APA-Pretoria (South Africa) South Africa has revoked the energy national state of disaster, barely two months after declaring that it would use the measure to marshall all forces to manage a crippling electricity crisis.
In a statement on Wednesday, Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs Minister Thembi Nkadimeng said the government would use existing legislation and contingency arrangements as well as work through its Energy Crisis Committee to address power cuts that have worsened over the past year.
“The government has terminated, with immediate effect, the national state of disaster declared by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs on 9 February 2023,” Nkadimeng said.
She added: “Government will, through the Energy Crisis Committee continue to engage, cooperate and coordinate its actions to reduce and eradicate load shedding using existing legislation and contingency arrangements.”
President Cyril Ramaphosa invoked disaster regulations two months ago to address the crisis that saw South Africans enduring daily rolling power cuts by state-run utility Eskom due to frequent breakdowns at its ageing coal-fired power stations and years of corruption.
The state of disaster gave the government additional powers to respond to the crisis, including by permitting emergency procurement procedures with fewer bureaucratic delays and less oversight.
The declaration of the state of disaster was, however, slammed by politicians and civil society groups who feared that the emergency procurement procedures would be abused by corrupt officials just like they did funds set aside for the COVID-19 response in 2020.
Nkadimeng, however, defended the state of disaster, saying it “was a necessary response to the impact of critical levels of load shedding on the economy and vulnerable sectors such as health and small businesses.”
She argued that the state of disaster managed to stabilise the electricity situation in the country.
JN/APA