President Cyril Ramaphosa has cut short his Egyptian working visit to meet with the board and management of Eskom where he will be briefed on plans to mitigate and resolve the current electricity crisis.
In addition to today’s meeting, President Ramaphosa is also scheduled to visit the operations centre at Eskom’s headquarters at Megawatt Park in Gauteng.
According to the Presidency, the President will then visit Mamelodi where the recent rains lead to wide-scale flooding.
The President will meet with local residents, community leaders and provincial officials managing the support being given to the stricken community.
The President’s visit comes as Eskom has said it is this morning implementing Stage 2 load shedding which is expected to continue until 11pm.
Strengthening relations with Egypt
President Ramaphosa departed the Egyptian capital Cairo on Tuesday, where he held official talks with President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi.
The President had been slated to participate in a high-level panel at the Inaugural Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development on Wednesday, 11 December 2019.
The President, said the Presidency, however returned home to attend to urgent domestic priorities.
“The focus of the Egypt visit was to strengthen bilateral and economic relations with the largest export market in North Africa for South African goods. The leaders of both countries further discussed new avenues of cooperation in trade and investments; including infrastructure, manufacturing and agro-processing,” said the Presidency.
The President was accompanied by the Ministers of International Relations and Cooperation, Dr Naledi Pandor, Defence and Military Veterans, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Trade and Industry Ebrahim Patel, Minister of State Security, Ayanda Dlodlo and Minister of Tourism Mmamoloko Kubayi-Ngubane.
With South Africa assuming the Chair of the African Union in 2020, President Ramaphosa and President El-Sisi, who is the outgoing AU Chair, also discussed matters around deepening continental integration, peace, security and development. – SAnews.gov.za
