SALGA slams ‘insensitive’ load shedding comments by ANC MP
The chair of the South African Local Government Association in KZN has taken issue with the remarks on load shedding by ANC MP Sylvia Lucas.
Lucas told MPs during the debate on the State of the Nation Address on Tuesday that the planned power cuts are "not the end of the world”.
SALGA’s Thami Ntuli said the statement is insensitive as the power cuts have resulted in job losses, left many households poorer and sparked service delivery protests at various municipalities across the country.
Shortly after President Cyril Ramaphosa’s State of the Nation Address on Thursday, the country was once again plunged into stage 6 load shedding.
The planned power cuts have since been eased to stages 3 and 4.
The South African Local Government Association addressed the media on Wednesday on the scourge of political killings in KZN ahead of this year’s elections.
“It was so depressing to hear honourable MP Sylvia Lucas telling parliament yesterday that load shedding is ‘not the end of the world’. That statement was insensitive,” Ntuli said.
“Some businesses are unable to pay their dues to municipalities because of load shedding, which has left them financially limping. Some businesses have even closed shop because of load shedding. During load shedding, water pumps and reservoirs stop working, and that affects our citizens. In some painful cases, patients are turned back by health centres because there is no power or water to operate.
“Load shedding is impacting municipal operations in profound ways. It has forced municipalities to take extreme measures to keep wastewater plants and water purification plants running and prevent water contamination.”
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