Sleep more - Energy Minister
2008-01-31 08:26
Cape Town - South Africans could save electricity by going to sleep earlier and boiling less water, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told Parliament on Wednesday.
"Go to sleep earlier so that you can grow and be cleverer. Boil less water, use the microwave rather than stove, take a shower and not a shallow bath," she told a special sitting of Parliament to discuss the power crisis.
She was unveiling a 10-point plan to encourage South Africans to change their electricity usage habits.
Amid much heckling and jeering from some MPs, she criticised calls from "some quarters" to identify culprits and castigate them.
"Crucify, crucify, crucify," she said.
She was loudly jeered when she thanked the ANC for the leadership "it has provided in helping us deal with this emergency".
Sonjica said South Africa's power crisis was due to the country being part of the "global village". There was a "high demand" of energy globally.
"China, in 13 of its provinces, has the same problem. The growth of India and China has had an impact."
She said energy markets in Ontario, Canada, had collapsed. There had been blackouts in the USA and Europe, and Brazil had gone "through the same experience", she said.
Sonjica said the situation could be turned around.
"We are confident that we have the ability to turn around the situation. We reassure the South African community and the world at large that all our projects will be on course and that the 2010 Fifa World Cup is not under threat."
- SAPA