Government is doing everything it can to address the country’s problem of load shedding, says Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) Director-General Phumla Williams.
However, Williams said there is an energy crisis at Eskom, which is not going to be resolved overnight, adding that experts in the field have said solutions are not going to be immediate.
This comes as Solidarity responded to the Department of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s call made during the 2022/2023 Budget Vote, where the Minister highlighted that among the challenges faced by Eskom is the lack of engineering and technical skills.
In their response, Solidarity offered to provide a list of names of skilled and experienced technical South Africans to assist with this challenge.
“I must emphasise that the call for South Africans who have the expertise to come forward is not new and is definitely not confined to Solidarity.
“Government is hard at work solving the myriad issues facing the country, including the crisis at Eskom. We urge South Africans to keep calm, as all the challenges facing our country are being addressed with great urgency,” she said.
In an interview with SAnews.gov.za, Williams said Minister Gordhan is not involved in the selection or human resources processes.
“This is a function of Eskom, and all processes will be carried out within the ambit of the law. Eskom knows which processes to follow when it comes to the deployment of the experts,” she said.
The Director-General explained that skilled South Africans with the relevant experience and expertise to assist Eskom or any other area is open to all.
Every South African has a role to play and those that have the skill should assist to make the country better, she said.
“Calling upon expertise from retired professionals or those outside of government is not a new practice. In fact, it was recently done during the COVID-19 pandemic, where retired nurses were called upon to assist,” said Williams.
“Every South African has a role to play to make South Africa great. We must all play our part, offer our skills and expertise to address challenges we face as a country. By working together, we achieve more and leave no one behind,” she said.
Yesterday, at the Black Industrialist and Exporters Conference held at the Sandton Convention Centre, President Cyril Ramaphosa said relevant departments and entities are working on an integrated set of measures to add additional power to the grid in the shorted possible time.
“Government is engaged in consultations with social partners on these measures and will soon be able to announce a package of measures that provides an effective response to our energy crisis,” President Ramaphosa said. – SAnews.gov.gov.za
