Minister Gwede Mantashe says that dealing with load shedding is not a matter of collecting votes.
The minister was answering questions from members of Parliament's National Council of Provinces on Tuesday. DA MP Mlindi Nhanha had asked about the progress made on government's Energy Action Plan. South Africa has only had two days this year without load shedding, while up to 29 days of Stage 6 have been implemented thus far.
He noted that the Energy Action Plan, led by Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, focuses on improving the performance of coal-fired power stations, procuring emergency energy supply, importing power from neighbouring countries and improving skills at Eskom. Another important factor is increasing generation capacity from renewables.He also hit back at claims that he was blocking renewable energy in the country.