Eskom is “too big to fail” and will not be privatised, President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Saturday.
Delivering the African National Congress’s 108th annual January 8 statement at the Tafel Lager Stadium in Kimberley in the Northern Cape, Ramaphosa said: “Eskom is the largest company in our country, it is too big to fail. We will not allow Eskom to fail.
“We will rebuild it so it can execute its developmental mandate.
“Eskom will be restored to becoming a company that can provide energy.
“We are not going to privatise Eskom, we are going to strengthen Eskom so it can deliver energy as it should.
“Right now, we understand the concerns South African’s have about the load shedding we have almost on a daily basis. These are challenges we are addressing.
“At the same time, the Eskom management and board must maintain the power stations; many are old.
“The new ones we have built have design challenges, which is why they keep tripping, leading to load shedding.
“Obviously this has a negative impact on the economy and our people, particularly those in
hospitals.
“We urgently need Eskom management to move with speed to restore the power stations and ensure that new energy we will procure should come on stream.”
Earlier in his speech, Ramaphosa said job creation remained the central priority for the ANC-led government in 2020.
“To achieve a far greater pace of economic growth, we will step-up our investment drive, launch a massive infrastructure build programme, reduce the cost of doing business, and see to the creation of jobs and expand pathways for young people into the world of work.”
Ramaphosa told the subdued crowd that government would unlock the potential of small businesses, cooperatives, and the township economy, and would continue to “revamp and re-open industrial parks to enhance job creation”.
“More special economic zones will be opened for further employment
creation,” he said.
However, for this to succeed, a stable electricity supply was needed.
“We must also find new sources of energy such as gas and intermediate energy that can be brought on ships,” he added.
The 11000-seat stadium is the smallest the governing party has ever used for its anniversary celebrations.
However, National Executive Member Fikile Mbalula said after Ramaphosa’s address that with “overflow”, the crowd numbered 25000.