Gauteng will become the first province to generate its own power and lessen up on being dependent on Eskom. Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced this during his State of the Province Address (Sopa) address at the Johannesburg City Hall on Monday afternoon.

MERAFONG

Lesufi said that the farm would be built in Merafong in Carletonville at a cost of R1.2 billion. "If we don't tackle load shedding and ensure our that province remains the economic hub of our country, we will face difficult challenges. It will be difficult for us to accelerate economic recovery, so we welcome the national declaration of disaster by President Cyril Ramaphosa,' he said. Lesufi further said: "We have learned from the procurement of Personal Protective Equipments. We will work with the Gauteng ethics advisory committee and the Auditor-General to ensure that the processes are transparent, fair and equitable."

ENGAGING ENERGY SERVICE COMPANIES

Lesufi further said the Gauteng government will engage the City of Johannesburg's City Power as well as Tshwane's Rooiwal Power Station to support them to expand and generate more power. "We will meet with owners of Kelvin Power Station (a private power station) to establish how we can partner with them to limit loadshedding in Gauteng. From next week, we will advertise a call for proposals for alternative suppliers of energy that can contribute to the solution of the energy crisis and the reindustrialisation of Gauteng.' We have established an energy crisis response team that engages with the National Energy Committee and works with local government and energy experts,' he said.

LOCAL MUNICIPALITIES

In addition to approaching local municipalities to assist, Premier Lesufi said the provincial government acted with urgency and convened the inaugural energy solutions expo to solicit views on what exists in the market with the idea of creating partnerships to assist in finding lasting solutions. "We were pleased with the overwhelming response from the industry experts who provided much-needed knowledge on what we can do in the immediate, and medium to long term.