The comprehensive impact of Eskom’s power cuts
10 February 2020
Hot on the heels of the announcement by Andre de Ruyter, Eskom CEO, that rolling blackouts (load-shedding is an erroneous term) will be part of our future and the swift realisation of that statement, comes the announcement by Gwede Mantashe, minister of mineral resources and energy, that government hopes to create another state-controlled power utility distinct from Eskom. Private investors will apparently be invited to invest in such a venture.
The implications of Mantashe’s statement and feasibility of such an entity are problematic and deficient, to say the least. For one, it implies that government has abandoned the search for real and difficult answers to Eskom’s travails. Not even telling De Ruyter of your plan to create a brand-new power utility – and failing to also mention steps to help Eskom get out of its mess – intimates this. Second, no private investor will throw money at something that is still state-controlled in South Africa – and government competing with itself is not competition.
Thirdly, creating another government entity to perform the duties of an existing one and staffing it to the hilt with unfit-for-purpose workers will certainly please the labour union bosses, but it makes no economic sense and does not solve the capacity problem. But, then again, foresight, problem-solving and strategy are not the ANC’s strong suits nor its desire.
The other, more obvious, but also more flagrant, aspect is bigwigs like Mantashe’s total disregard for the impact and inconvenience that their incompetence and obstinacy is causing our society.