The DA says the electricity minister and the ANC took things too far when they decided to lie to South Africans by saying that the country had “reached a turning point in the power crisis” and that load shedding “will not increase to higher levels does not rise”.
“Shortly after Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said this, phase 6 load shedding was introduced,” says Samantha Graham-Maré, the DA’s spokesperson for electricity.
For this reason, the DA wants Ramokgopa to cease all his communications with South Africa so that Eskom can report directly on the power crisis.
Graham-Maré has already written to Calib Cassim, interim CEO of Eskom, in which she demands that Eskom “take over the responsibility” to issue weekly statements on the state of affairs.
“It is extremely insulting that Ramokgopa provides misleading information to sway public opinion on load shedding, for political purposes,” she says.
“The fact that Ramokgopa has not issued a public apology about this misinformation campaign confirms what we have always suspected – that Ramokgopa is an image polisher for the ANC who must mislead South Africans about the loadshedding crisis.”
Graham-Maré says it is irresponsible of Ramokgopa to run his mouth about load shedding, while the reality is far removed from his words.
“South Africans have had to endure irreparable damage to their livelihoods due to load shedding, therefore they should not be disrespected by liars in government.”
