The Democratic Alliance (DA), South Africa’s official opposition party, at the weekend called on the country’s deputy president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to give a comprehensive report to Parliament on the state of the troubled power utility, Eskom.

Mmusi Maimane, DA parliamentary leader, said the report should address maintenance needs of Eskom’s power stations. “For the sake of public trust, these measures need to be put in place until the crisis at Eskom has been remedied,” Maimane told Sapa.

Struggling state-owned enterprises like Eskom and SAA to name just a few, have been made Ramaphosa’s responsibility.

He urged Ramaphosa and Eskom to build confidence and be forthright about the likelihood of a national blackout. “Documents show that Eskom is running simulation exercises in preparation for a national blackout,” Maimane said in a statement he sent to Ramaphosa.

“These simulation exercises are being run under the code name Breaking Dawn, under the command of Ayanda Noah, Eskom’s Chairperson of the Emergency Response Command Centre,” Maimane said.

Eskom said mockup exercises and tests were conducted frequently to ensure they are ready to reply “extreme events” and to identify areas in need of improvement. “In the past these exercises have addressed issues such as preparedness for emergency demand reduction, preparations for the 2010 Fifa World Cup, local elections and the African Cup of Nations,” he continued.