Ramaphosa says Sylvia Lucas' remarks on load shedding misinterpreted

CAPE TOWN - President Cyril Ramaphosa has defended a remark made by the chairperson of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Sylvia Lucas, that load shedding was "not the end of the world". 

He said that the remark made during the debate on his State of the Nation Address had been misunderstood. 

Speaking at the Cape Town Press Club on Thursday after replying to the debate, Ramaphosa conceded that government had failed to heed warnings about the country’s impending energy crunch as far back as 1998. 

Lucas got many South Africans' backs up following her remarks about load shedding after explaining, that like her, many people grew up without electricity. 

Load shedding was ramped up to stage 4 and later stage 6 after the State of the Nation Address, prompting Lucas to add that she believed President Cyril Ramaphosa was being sabotaged. 

But on Thursday, Ramaphosa said her remarks had been misinterpreted. 

"I don’t think she meant it to mean accept load shedding because that’s what it is. I think what she meant, yes, we have a number of other challenges and load shedding is one of them." 

Ramaphosa said that government failed to act when it was warned of impending power shortages two decades ago.

"We have conceded that, and the problem has caught up with us. And as they say - the chickens have come home to roost." 

He told a grumbling audience that he wasn’t able to set a date for the end of the power cuts.