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The Democratic Alliance said news of the finalisation of protocols to deal with Stage 9 load-shedding and beyond, was nothing short of “horrifying”.
MP, Samantha Graham Mare' said South Africans were already struggling to cope with 8 to 10 hours of blackouts a day caused by the current Stage 6.
In a statement on Monday, she said Stage 8 would see at least 12 hours a day without power in blocks of 4 hours and Stage 9 even worse.
Mare' was commenting on a report that the National Rationalisation Specifications had completed an updated code of practice that will govern how municipalities must respond to Stage 9 load shedding or beyond.
NRS chairperson, Vally Padaychee, was quoted as saying that the new code would be submitted to the National Energy Regulator of SA, and once adopted by Nersa, the code will have legal status.
Mare’ said a move beyond Stage 8 would also lead to “electricity curtailment” which she said would require large energy users to reduce their power usage further.
“The negative impact on the industry would be extreme, with a disastrous effect on jobs and the economy,” she said.
“The purpose of these protocols is to ensure that all entities involved in the distribution and supply of electricity follow the same rules and procedures in the operationalising of load-shedding, in order to prevent a total grid collapse,” Mare’ said.
