Johannesburg – Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA) says it is important for the government to limit the use of the extra powers it has granted itself through the national state of disaster.
During his State Of the Nation Address (SONA) on Thursday night, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a raft of measures to resolve the electricity crisis including declaring – with immediate effect – a national state of disaster.
BLSA said while it remained concerned that many of the measures could be implemented effectively without the declaration of a national state of disaster, it was “important, therefore, for government to limit the use of the extra powers it has granted itself purely to address the load-shedding crisis on a least-regret basis”.
President Ramaphosa also announced the creation of a new position the “minister of electricity” to deal with the energy crisis.
BLSA said: “If used responsibly and effectively though, the state of the disaster, along with the new electricity minister driving the energy reforms, do offer hope of faster implementation of the measures needed to end load-shedding in the short term and secure our energy supply over the longer term through increased generation capacity”.
President Ramaphosa said the minister of electricity will be located in the Presidency.
Responding to the development, BLSA said it was concerned that the energy sector would “now be governed by the Presidency as well as two other ministries, the Department of Public Enterprises, which the President said would continue to be responsible for Eskom and steer its restructuring, and the Department of Minerals and Energy”.
BLSA said – despite its concerns – it was encouraged by this move.
“Delineating clear responsibilities will be important, particularly between the ministers of energy and electricity,” said the BLSA.
President Ramaphosa also committed to assisting households and businesses to roll out solar – a move BLSA said it found encouraging.
“One other element related to the energy crisis was encouraging – a commitment to encouraging the uptake of rooftop solar installations for households and businesses,” BLSA said.
President Ramaphosa said the minister of finance would outline in his budget speech how households will be assisted and how businesses will be able to benefit from a tax incentive.
The National Treasury was also working on adjustments to the bounce-back loan scheme to help small businesses invest in solar equipment, and to allow banks and development finance institutions to borrow directly from the scheme to facilitate the leasing of solar panels to their customers.
“These are encouraging moves that BLSA has been calling for as it reduces demand on the national grid,” the business entity said.
BLSA said it noted the President’s updates on implementing recommendations from the Zondo Commission to establish state structures to combat corruption, including an anti-corruption agency.
The President said the government was also working to capacitate the Witness Protection Unit.
He promised to introduce amendments to the Protected Disclosures Act and Witness Protection Act to strengthen protections for whistleblowers.
BLSA said it was encouraging that work was also underway to improve access to the witness protection programme for public servants who expose maladministration, corruption, and unethical conduct.
However, BLSA said it “would like more transparency on this important process”.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address that it will soon be easier for skilled foreign nationals to obtain work visas.
He said the government would move quickly to implement recommended measures including establishing a more flexible points-based system to attract skilled immigration, and implementing a trusted employer scheme to make the visa process easier for large investors and streamlining application requirements.
Commending the development, BLSA said: “The emphasis the President placed on improving the country’s ability to attract skilled immigration is encouraging to business because progress here has been slow”.
BLSA said it was fully committed to continue supporting the government wherever and however it can in implementing the reforms that pave the way for building a growing, inclusive economy that creates jobs and eases inequality.
