Johannesburg - The SACP says that the measures introduced during the last State of the Nation Address (Sona) by President Cyril Ramaphosa have not resolved the country’s energy crisis.
The Communist Party says that this is the reason that load shedding not only continued, but worsened. According to the SACP, declaring the energy crisis a national disaster is necessary under the circumstances.
The party said it did not want what happened under the national state of disaster during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when a nexus of unscrupulous government officials and leaders colluded with the profit-driven interests of the private sector in corrupting and exploiting government procurement.
"The government must combat corruption and strengthen accountability. Also, Parliament must play its oversight role strictly. Our role as the people in our various organisations in the community and the workplace will be critical," said the party.
In a joint statement with trade union Cosatu, both members, who are in an alliance with the governing party, emphasised that the national state of disaster should not be used as an excuse to bring in independent power producers whose sole interest was to profit from people's misery.
Both the SACP and Cosatu additionally pointed out that for some time now, they had been calling for the reconfiguration of the Tripartite Alliance with the ANC.
"This reconfiguration should not be misunderstood to be in the context of the deployment of SACP and Cosatu leaders in the echelons of the government and, by extension, the state.
"Reconfiguration should, among other things, mean going back to the root; recommitting ourselves to the goals of the National Democratic Revolution, which is about building a united, non-racial, non-sexist, democratic and prosperous society. This means that all the partners should work in unison with an understanding that they are all equal in this alliance," read the statement.
The Star