Ramaphosa says energy crisis similar to apartheid challenge and will be overcome
President tells Human Rights Day event in Sharpeville that restoring reliable electricity is an urgent priority for the government
President Cyril Ramaphosa likened efforts to fix Eskom, whose financial and operational crisis has been brought about by mismanagement and corruption under his party’s rule, to the struggle against apartheid. “We will overcome this electricity crisis that is engulfing our country at this moment. We will overcome it just as we overcame the apartheid challenge,” Ramaphosa said at a Human Rights Day event in Sharpeville, Vereeniging, on Thursday. SA has been engulfed by rolling blackouts over the past few week as stage four load-shedding was introduced by power utility Eskom. Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan said earlier this week that it could take up to two weeks before the government could determine how long the power outages, which have crippled industry and prompted some economist to revise downwards their their forecasts for economic growth this year, will last. Elections 2019 The load-shedding comes less than two months ahead of the national and provincial elections in...
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