Deputy Speaker, South Africa is now in an official hostage situation. We have a situation where two belligerent parties, one being Eskom and the other being the ANC are holding the South African Republic, the South African economy and every person within South Africa a security in the hostage drama. We as South
Africa have a metaphorical knife to our throat and we are being forced to pay a never-ending ransom to Eskom or else the throat will be slit and the results will be a full out black out and the death of South Africa as we know it.
This is not overexaggeration and this is not panic peddling; this is the absolute reality. We are teetering on the very edge, we should be absolutely terrified and exactly what would happen if this crisis worsens. As government, every single effort and every single action should be focused on nothing other than averting this crisis. And to anticipate any possible responses, I would say no because enough has not been done and enough is not being done to safe our country.
The date was 11 December 2014, and the Deputy President and the Leader of Government Business was one Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. The player needed to turn around Eskom. It was said that Mr Ramaphosa will oversee this, but the plans failed dismally. The date was 11 July 2017, and the Deputy President and the leader of government business was one Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. A new plan has been discussed
to turn around Eskom, increase revenue and reduced spending, but plans failed dismally. The date was 31 January 2018, and the Deputy President and the leader of government was Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, and Fitch downgraded Eskom. Eskom vowed to implement a turnaround strategy, we waited, and Eskom was glowing its way back.
I think we can see that the plan has failed dismally. The date was 2 December 2018, the President was Cyril Ramaphosa, and the leader of government was Mr David Mabuza. Rolling blackouts have rocked the country yet again. A new turnaround strategy was planned for implementation, and I think we can all agree. The plans have failed dismally. I have watched year after year, Eskom board after Eskom board, rolling blackouts after rolling blackouts, Eskom price increase after Eskom price increase. Eskom just gets worse. As a state-owned entity, the company simply cannot function. The ideological battles within the ANC are now not only ripping the party itself apart, it is causing an economic crisis, the likes of which this country has never seen.
The DA has not just sat back and complained, we have taken proactive steps of providing solutions, providing legislation, requesting countless times to sit around the table and be of service. We have said it so many times. This crisis transcends the bounds of politics; the very future of our country is at stake here. The kind of overhaul needed at Eskom means splitting Eskom into a generation entity, completely independent of the transmission and distribution entity. The generation entity should be privatised over time, where well- functioning power stations can be offloaded to the private sector that would do just that, create cheaper and more sustainable energy.
Our Bill was in fact gazetted just yesterday for public comment. And it is the first real concrete step in changing the Eskom structure. Let's talk a little bit more action. The Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni announced another set of bailout for struggling state- owned entities yesterday in his Budget Speech. A massive R69 billion lifeline has been promised to Eskom over the next three years.
Unfortunately that is not nearly enough to keep the sinking boat afloat. The truth is that Eskom has hit an iceberg in the form of a mounting debt of R419 billion and counting - an oversized workforce, low productivity, lack of critical skills, brand-new faulty power stations, scar tissue from years of corruption, maintenance backlogs are just some of the problems that faces the entity. When one adds the municipal debt that is owed to Eskom, the sinking ship had only one way to go - and that is straight down.
The financial lifeline and the split of Eskom into three entities will not be enough to save Eskom. Even with the three units, there will still be only one board calling the shots. What Eskom needs is a complete overhaul, not a mere rejig. Now, we need to face the very harsh realities, state capture hit very zenith during the term of this Parliament. It was devised, executed and almost completed under the watch of the then President, Jacob Zuma and his entire Cabinet.
President Ramaphosa has himself said that this is known as the nine wasted years - nine wasted years indeed; but
let me tell you what is also wasted, six opportunities to vote against President Jacob Zuma in a motion of no confidence. Six times, the ANC voted in favour of keeping him and they cheered, and sang, and gave him a standing ovation, and every time these motions were defeated. [Interjections.] Every single member of the ANC in this House is to blame for capture. [Interjections.] That is the politics of the stomach completely winning over the politics of the people.
I have to laugh when I hear statement made in the media such as, "We had no idea it was this bad, or "what, should we have acted sooner?" Yes, you should have acted immediately, but you see what would have happened if you acted immediately with those pesky, "smallanyana" [little] skeletons, we would have no where to go and hide. It simply cannot be that every single member of the executive did not know what was happening under your very noses. You aided and abated this selling of piece by piece of our country, and shame on you all! [Interjections.]
The ANC government is taking the people of South Africa for fools one too many times. South Africans are politically astute and we will not fall for this games and lies again. It is not normal and never should it be that rolling blackouts rule our lives. The time has come for South Africans to take back their power. The date is 9 May 2019, where Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer be the President of South Africa. [Interjections.] The people of South Africa have taken back their power. The date is 10 May 2019, where the President will be one, Mr Mmusi Maimane. [Interjections.]