The Presidential Climate Change Coordinating Commission's Valli Moosa said that President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement on Thursday was only the start of changing the electricity crisis.
Energy expert Lungile Mashele said hospitals, industries, and homes were now competing for electricity for life-saving machines, manufacturing, and space heating.
The amendment will make it easier for independent power producers to make electricity and sell it into the grid.
President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday announced an amendment to the Electricity Regulation Act that will make it easier for independent power providers to generate power and even sell it back into the grid.
In an address on Thursday, President Ramaphosa announced an amendment to schedule two of the Electricity Regulation Act, which would mimimise the red tape for independent power producers.
The utility suspended stage two blackouts at 5am on Tuesday morning, but said that the higher demand for power, as a result of the cold front setting in, may mean more outages with little notice.
Deputy President Deputy David Mabuza said that the proposed 20-year agreements would go a long way in making electricity tariffs cheaper and addressing power constraints.
The Energy Department said that eight preferred bidders could come online and provide emergency power supply within a year. Officials said that this was critical given the country’s supply shortfall, which often led to rolling blackouts.
The department said the eight preferred bidders would inject a total private sector investment amount of R45 billion into the South African economy.
The minerals and energy minister announced on Thursday the first eight successful bidders to provide emergency electricity and help prop up the country's ailing power supply.
Minerals and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said that the successful bidders had a deadline to obtain finance and begin.
Kangnas Wind Farm construction project manager, Manie Kotzé, said that besides serving the power needs of the country, communities in the region also stood to benefit through the plant's spin-off projects such as its developmental programmes.
Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter said that the utility's power generating system was looking good and it was managing to keep the lights on.
The president has used his weekly newsletter, to touch on the country's energy crisis and how government plans to stabilise the situation at least in the short-term.
Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said that electricity from independent power producers (IPPs) must be purchased by Eskom and programmes will target connection to the grid as soon as reasonably possible.
The state-owned company’s CEO Andre de Ruyter said that the move was meant to reduce the net cost to the country’s electricity consumers.
Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato is hoping for the best after judgment was reserved in the city's application to get clarity on whether municipalities are lawfully entitled to buy energy from independent power producers.
