Johannesburg – Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, yesterday gazetted the disaster management regulations on electricity constraints.
The gazette follows a special Cabinet meeting held on February 27, 2023.
In a statement, the ministry said the objectives of the regulations were to assist the energy-generating entities in restoring their capacity to generate electricity.
"The regulations span an array of measures to protect and provide relief to the public and to deal with the destructive nature and other effects of the disaster," said Cogta spokesperson Lungi Mtshali.
These include:
(a) Minimising the impact of load shedding on livelihoods, the economy, policing functions, national security, security services, education services, health services, water services, food security, communications and municipal services, among others;
(b) Reducing and managing the impact of load shedding on service delivery to support lifesaving and specified critical infrastructure;
(c) Providing measures to enable the connection of new-generation supply; and
(d) Providing measures to improve Eskom’s plant performance.
"Under the new regulations, the spheres of government will work closer with their social partners to enable effective co-ordination between state departments, Eskom, and other relevant entities and institutions to ensure the availability, integrity, and security of the electricity infrastructure," read the Cogta statement.
Minister in the Presidency, Mondli Gungubele, said the government was confident that regulations will provide the extraordinary measures required to deal with our energy constraints.
"The development of the regulations is the result of extensive consultations between key players across all spheres of government. It represents the best available options appropriate to the situation the country finds itself in and within the limited available resources available to address our energy challenges," said Gungubele.
According to the gazette, during the State of Disaster, emergency procurement for public institutions would be subject to the Public and Municipal Finance Management Acts (PFMA and MFMA) and the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act.
The gazette said the auditor-general would conduct real-time audits and report on the accounts, financial statements, and financial management of all emergency procurement undertaken during the national state of disaster.
"Accounting officers must take steps to ensure that anti-corruption measures are implemented during the emergency procurement. Any procurement undertaken using emergency provisions ... must be published and reported to Parliament within the month of expenditure by the accounting officers and authorities, including the details of such procurement and the reasons for deviating from normal procurement procedures," added the gazette.
The Star