Initiatives such as those proposed by AfriForum should be supported.
24 January 2024
It is striking how, in recent weeks, the ANC government has been trying to blame Eskom for the current electricity crisis. This while the country is currently experiencing unprecedented levels of load shedding, up to Phase 6. Of small consolation is that South Africa is now experiencing Phase 4 and 5 on a rotating basis. However, load shedding is simply a euphemism for the current and real power crisis.
While President Ramaphosa was supposed to be in Davos to attract new investment to an investment-unfriendly South Africa, he had to once again cancel his visit and focus on the crisis at home. The question to be asked, is whether the electricity crisis was the real reason, or if the ANC's factional infighting might have been the underlying reason. With much haste, and in the middle of Phase 6, the President had to meet with the National Energy Crisis Committee, the board of Eskom and opposition leaders to address the crisis.
However, this is not a new crisis; it did not happen overnight and the ANC government must be held directly responsible and accountable. At the very least, the ANC government is individually and collectively accountable for dereliction of duty by its cabinet ministers.
The ongoing electricity crisis of the last two years could have been prevented if the ANC government had followed and implemented its own National Development Plan 2030. Ironically, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa was the vice-chairman of the National Development Commission that presented the plan to the government in 2012. Therefore, nothing that is happening today should come as a surprise to the president or senior members of the cabinet.
Page 45 of the National Development Plan overview states that: “The electricity crisis of 2008 and other recent developments have exposed institutional weaknesses related to state-owned companies responsible for network infrastructure. Averting such problems requires clear institutional arrangements, transparent shareholder compacts, clean lines of accountability and sound financial models to ensure sustainability. We make recommendations in each of these areas.”
The core of the energy planning as outlined in 2012 in the chapter THE ENERGY SECTOR: EMPOWERING SOUTH AFRICA is then particularly clearly described on page 168: “South Africa will need to meet about 29 000 megawatts (MW) of new power demand between 2012 and 2030. A further 10 900MW of old power capacity will be retired. As a result, more than 40 000MW of new power capacity needs to be built. Eskom's current committed capacity expansion programme will see more than 10 000MW of new generating capacity added to the existing system. However, there is still a clear gap between future needs and committed infrastructure investments.”
The government was therefore already informed in 2012, and in its own development plan, that 2 200MW per year was needed to reach the 2030 target of 40 000MW. This is not something that can be solved overnight in six to 12 months as some inept members of government pretend.
Ironically, the task set in the National Development Plan was for the Department of Energy to add 21 500MW of renewable energy capacity to the system by 2030. This is Minister Gwede Mantashe's department, and to date he has not yet contributed 1MW to the system. His only solution in July 2022 was to establish Eskom 2.0.
If the government already knew in 2012 that there were massive power shortages and that 40 000MW of power capacity needed to be added to the system, where should the blame lie? The continuous experimentation with an outdated type of socialism, with overwhelming government regulations, lies at the core. Such an ideology is a breeding ground for factional infighting, cadre development, corrupt officials, incompetence and ultimately the inability to implement grandiose plans. The ANC has always been focused on shifting blame and seldom, if ever, takes any responsibility. Therefore, little attention is given to implementation. The 2012 National Development Plan 2030 stands out as a beacon and demonstration of the ANC's total inability to govern and implement. The failures of entire departments and state-supported entities, crumbling infrastructure and municipalities under administration are part of the ANC government's trail of destruction. This is because fundamental implementation and maintenance are absent in the ANC's governance function. The past almost three decades attest to this.
Where are the solutions for the future in the interest of the country and its people to be found?
A coalition government that will handle the matter with the necessary seriousness and sense of duty;
A government that will largely privatise state-supported entities, with specific reference to Eskom and power generation;
Less government intervention, prescription and regulations;
A complete end to cadre deployment, affirmative action and black economic empowerment. The term transformation should only be used to refer to the transformation of Eskom from a struggling and broken company to one of excellence and performance;
Tax exemptions for individuals and members of the business sector that relieve pressure on the electricity networks by generating their own power, whether by solar or wind;
Treating everyone equally, as consumers who pay for such service;
Developing entrepreneurial skills to help develop solutions;
Job creation projects that include power infrastructure in partnerships between the state and the private sector;
Expert Cabinet and SOE leadership that brings experience and expertise instead of patronage networks;
The treatment of any deliberate damage to infrastructure, theft of material and infrastructure, and attempts at state capture, as economic sabotage.
In light of the above, AfriForum's proposed establishment of a power company in order to develop private nuclear power through modular pebble bed reactors, should be considered and supported where possible.
South Africa now needs political will and drive to urgently look for solutions-oriented approaches to the electricity crisis. For too long, the ANC and its patronage networks have treated it as a self-enrichment scheme. The crisis arose under an ANC government and as a result, the ANC cannot provide a solution. Economic growth and resultant job creation were the victims of a government that did not demonstrate the will or ability to make a difference.
https://www.gov.za/issues/
https://www.
Issued by Jan Bosman, Chief Secretary of the Afrikanerbond, 24 January 2023
