South Africa’s celebrities and politicians are weighing in on the country’s current load shedding crisis, which on Monday night fell to Stage 6 power outages before reverting to Stage 4.
Amid all the jokes and outrage surrounding Eskom’s blackouts under #Loadshedding and #EskomBlackouts, local public figures also took to the platform to voice their opinions.
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“Stage 6 load shedding, uncharted territory, devastating for the economy and our country, fatal for growth and jobs,” said John Steenhuisen, the DA’s interim federal leader.
Stage 6 load shedding, uncharted territory, devastating for the economy and our country, fatal for growth and jobs. Time for government to level with South Africans about what is actually going on, I’m not buying this wet coal story!
— John Steenhuisen MP (@jsteenhuisen) December 9, 2019
“See what happens when you don’t hold people accountable!” said actor and comedian Siv Ngesi.
See what happens when you don’t hold people accountable! #Loadshedding
— Siv Ngesi (@iamSivN) December 9, 2019
Even rapper Aka caused a stir after suggesting that load shedding was a result of Jacob Zuma’s resignation.
“So y’all kicked Zuma out and now we at Stage 6. Made your bed, sleep in it,” the musician said.
So y’all kicked Zuma out and now we at Stage 6. Made your bed, sleep in it.
— AKA (@akaworldwide) December 9, 2019
On the flip side, EFF deputy president Floyd Shivambu took the opportunity to remind us all that Jacob Zuma once promised South Africans that load shedding would never happen again.
That’s the ANC for you: the man said there will never ever be load shedding again, and nho?? pic.twitter.com/8QGJsGSdFG
— Floyd Shivambu (@FloydShivambu) December 9, 2019
Bonang Matheba asked Eskom to sort out its issues before newly-crowned Miss Universe Zozibini Tunzi returned to South Africa.
Imagine Miss Universe coming back home go se na motlakase?! No. @Eskom_SA
— Bonang B* Matheba (@bonang_m) 9 December 2019
Our current president, meanwhile, remains silent on the topic of load shedding. In fact, Cyril Ramaphosa’s last tweet on Monday congratulated Zozibini Tunzi for winning Miss Universe 2019.
He has however returned from his trip to Egypt earlier than expected to address the crisis.
Congratulations to our #MissUniverse2019 @ZoziTunzi. I too hope children the world over will see their faces reflected in yours & be inspired to believe in the power of their dreams. May young women continue to take up space & leave an indelible mark on society, just as you have. pic.twitter.com/Bn4tDhvX0o
— Cyril Ramaphosa
(@CyrilRamaphosa) December 9, 2019
According to the Presidency, however, “the President has been in constant communication with the Minister of Public Enterprises and the leadership of the electricity utility on the state of the national grid and the work being done to address the current crisis”.
The President has been in constant communication with the Minister of Public Enterprises and the leadership of the electricity utility on the state of the national grid and the work being done to address the current crisis. #Eskom
— PresidencyZA (@PresidencyZA) December 9, 2019
President Ramaphosa is on Wednesday meeting with Eskom’s board in a bid to address the power utility’s current issues.
Feature image: Shereesa Moodley/Memeburn
