Chairperson, South Africa is facing an energy-supply crisis. Meanwhile Eskom has now failed three times to appear before Parliament to account to this House on how it is dealing with this crisis. Eskom must account to this House on how it will effectively manage electricity supply and demand.
International best practice is to allow for a 14% emergency reserve supply margin. Eskom's current reserve margin is in danger of breaching the minimum limit. It is worrying that Eskom requires electricity consumption to be reduced by a further 10% and at the same time Eskom has agreements in place with major industrial and mining electricity consumers to reduce consumption with compensation. We need to know what the monetary implications of these agreements are.
The power plants are not operating at full capacity and severe ageing and a skills shortage run rampant throughout all Eskom's structures. The ageing distributing network is nearing the end of its lifespan. In addition, we are experiencing delays with construction at Medupi, which is further undermining our long-run energy security. All these factors contribute to an energy crisis that will cripple the country. Eskom must appear before this House. It must be transparent and it must account to the people of South Africa.