DA echoes call for privatisation of Eskom

JOHANNESBURG - The Democratic Alliance is calling for Eskom to be privatised as South Africa's electricity crisis deepens to historic levels.

The party says the energy sector must be opened up to independent power producers who will help keep the lights on and the economy's wheels turning.

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During his alternative budget speech, the DA's Finance MMC Dion George said the party is opposed to offloading Eskom's substantive debt onto the national fiscus.

"There has been a notable lack of action taken over past 15 years to address the persistent scarcity of energy supply," George said.

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"Eskom is representative of the failure of centralised government and its inability to provide and sustain energy supply as rolling blackouts have estimated to cost the South African economy between R1.5-billion and R4-billion per day."

The DA reiterated its call for the privatisation of Eskom and the opening up of the energy sector to independent power producers.