President Cyril Ramaphosa again promised to end incessant load shedding and Transnet woes.

• President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the load shedding and Transnet crises.
• Speaking at an SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) event, the president was upbeat, but the promises were the same. 
• Former president Jacob Zuma, who is the newly-elected provincial chair of Sanco, snubbed the event.

President Cyril Ramaphosa says he’s satisfied the government “now knows” it has the capacity to deal with devastating Stage 6 load shedding, and the unfolding Transnet crisis.

In September, amid rolling power outages, Ramaphosa repeated his old promise: to end incessant load shedding and Transnet woes. 

As far as Eskom is concerned, he has promised to end load shedding since at least 2015, but the rolling outages continue. 

The country is currently gripped by Stage 6 load shedding and the economy is hamstrung by the port’s crisis. 

News24 on Thursday reported that about 71 000 containers are stuck on ships outside the Durban port, a backlog that can only be cleared in 2024.

Ramaphosa, on Friday, attended an event by the SA National Civic Organisation (Sanco) which is riven by factions.

READ | Ramaphosa repeats old promise to end load shedding, other crises

At the event held at the Durban International Convention Centre, Ramaphosa addressed the two elephants in the room: Stage 6 load shedding and Transnet.

The president said there was an “intention to rebuild the economy”, “reform” it and address challenges.

He said: 

He said as “much as it [Stage 6 load shedding] was a shock to us”, the government now knows they will be able to address load shedding. 

Ramaphosa mentioned his helicopter trip around Richards Bay on Thursday to witness the problems at Transnet and its ripple effects – one of which is the reckless trucks on the roads. 

He said the trucks were damaging the roads and said one of the challenges faced by Transnet was rail theft.

The president said he had given “a clear message” that “all these things must be resolved” by January.

Political arch-rival, former president Jacob Zuma, who was recently elected as provincial Sanco chairperson, snubbed Ramaphosa’s appearance at the event.

The incumbent had “squeezed” the event into his busy diary, one Sanco leader remarked before Ramaphosa took to the stage.

In an apparent reference to Zuma, Ramaphosa said he “respects my president” and “will not stand on a platform, ngimthuke (and swear at him)”.

Addressing the delegates, Ramaphosa said Sanco is now “alive”, “among us” and had been “missed”.

He urged the ANC to take Sanco seriously. 

He said the ANC-led alliance “know[s] the price of disunity… and we also know we need to focus on rebuilding and putting in place effective structures that can deal with the challenges”.

“You [Sanco] are the closest to our people. You cannot be matched when it comes to that,” Ramaphosa told the delegates.

He said the rebuilding and revitalisation of Sanco should translate into solutions.

“Civic organisations enable people to organise based on specific local issues that affect the lives of our people,” Ramaphosa said. 

He said Sanco exists because of the community and “isn’t an organisation of abantu abathize (some people)”. 

“That is the badge that you wear as Sanco,” Ramaphosa said. 

He said the ANC “nudged” Sanco into holding the conference and, for the party, this was a victory. 

Ramaphosa said it was “cold” without Sanco, adding that the Durban heat – 37 degrees Celsius – was because Sanco was now “revived”. 

Ramaphosa said Sanco should assist with achieving active citizenry.  

He described those who claim nothing has been achieved by the ANC in recent times as “opportunists”.

He said “there have been missteps, there have been failures”. 

He paid tribute to former health minister Zweli Mkhize, who as health MEC, envisioned the Dr Pixley Ka-Isaka Seme Memorial Hospital, which Ramaphosa opened earlier in the day.