Johannesburg - National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim says President Cyril Ramaphosa and the ANC are trying to convince South Africans that the recently declared state of national disaster is necessary.
Jim was speaking during a joint media briefing with UDM, the Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union (HAITU), Build One South Africa (Bosa) and the SA Federation Trade Union (SAFTU) held at Numsa offices in Newtown on Wednesday.
This multi-stakeholder grouping has threatened to shut the country down in a series of protests should Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address (Sona), declare a state of national disaster.
This is in response to the recent announcement by the ANC Legotla to declare the energy crisis a national state of disaster, and just as President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to rubber-stamp this declaration during today’s address.
Three weeks ago, this grouping filed court papers to force Ramaphosa to stop rolling blackouts and freeze the recent 18.6% Eskom tariff hike after calling for Eskom to suspend load shedding at public hospitals, clinics, police stations and schools.
Jim has accused Ramaphosa of misleading the country, saying he and the ANC had caucused in a corner and come up with the idea of declaring self-generated blackouts a national state of disaster, saying this was yet another way to loot the country.
“Clearly, President Cyril Ramaphosa is poised and positioning the whole nation, pulling the wool over their eyes so that come Thursday during Sona, they want to declare this self-created crisis a national disaster, and if they do that, they will manipulate the grid and hand over the country to the World Bank. We will stop at nothing. If they go ahead on Thursday, we will run to court on Friday,” Jim said.
HAITU Gauteng chairperson Bafana Tshabalala said the country’s state of public health had deteriorated due to the negative effects of load shedding on public health institutions and hospitals.
“HAITU is raising the alarm on the rapid deterioration of health standards caused by persistent load shedding and water shortages in all public health facilities. It is shameful that our government is so complacent about ending load shedding, which is an issue that is literally resulting in scores of unnecessary deaths in state hospitals,” Tshabalala said.
The group has taken the government to court in a bid to stop load shedding, with the intention of setting aside the recent Nersa tariff hike court case set for the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria on February 28.
The Star