Heads must roll - opposition

Cape Town - Opposition parties on Wednesday accused Cabinet ministers of reckless behaviour in the face of the country's electricity crisis, and called on them to resign.

The Democratic Alliance called for the resignation of former minister of minerals and energy and current Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Speaking during Parliament's special debate on the electricity crisis, party spokesperson on minerals and energy Hendrik Schmidt called on President Thabo Mbeki to fire Mlambo-Ngcuka and Minister of Public Enterprises Alec Erwin if they refused to step down.

"Failing to do so, places the task on the honourable president to remove them from office," he said.

Despite the serious inconvenience South Africans were experiencing as a result of power outages, not a single government leader had bothered to tell them what the causes of the crisis were.

"The recent apologies by the honourable president and deputy president are noted, but no political leader in government has until today stepped forward to explain the cause, full extent and expected duration of the crisis to the public.

"Notwithstanding the frustration and anger of the business fraternity, the public and everyone else affected by the electricity crisis, they have figuratively and literally been kept in the dark," Schmidt said.

The Independent Democrats and the Freedom Front Plus called for those responsible for the crisis to be fired.

Inkatha Freedom Party MP Narend Singh said the government had seen the crisis coming but did nothing to prevent it.

"The warning signs were evident but were ignored," he said.

However, Singh called for calm amongst politicians, saying they should rather help find a solution instead of making statements that would serve to fuel public anger.

"We as politicians should act responsibly," he said.

- SAPA