The main opposition party, the centre-right Democratic Alliance, gathered thousands of people to protest in the streets of Johannesburg and Cape Town against the power cuts.
With our correspondent in Johannesburg, Claire Bargeles
The country knows an unprecedented energy crisis, with a record number of blackouts in 2022, due to the inability of the national company Eskom to produce enough energy. In Johannesburg, it was in front of the headquarters of the ANC that the opposition made a point of demonstrating its dissatisfaction to denounce the inaction of the ruling party.
It’s a blue tide that swept through the streets of the city center. Dressed in a T-shirt in the colors of her party, Andrinah, 25, is exasperated by the power cuts: “ I have a small business: I sell fries and sandwiches called “kotas”. And with each load shedding, I am unfortunately forced to close, which means that I lose money, and people are disappointed and look elsewhere. »
Not to mention that Eskom could increase electricity prices by more than 18% from next April.
Siviwe Gwarube, leader of the Democratic Alliance parliamentary group, believes that his party has better solutions to offer: We would like to integrate independent power producers immediately, in order to be able to relieve the pressure which is currently weighing on Eskom. And in the long term, we would look at the business model of the company and how to restructure it. Eskom needs to be divided into more manageable portions, and there needs to be more players that can come into play. »
The rally also attracted people like Thembelani: he is not close to any political party, but he came to express his anger at the situation: “ My main concern is that the government has let us down. I’m fed up, our government is burying us in a big hole. »
ANC activists had also banded together to defend their party, blaming Eskom management for the cuts. The two processions were kept at a distance by the police.