Medupi and Kusile are shining examples of the damaging effect of Affirmative Action

20 November 2019

Medupi and Kusile are monuments for all to see of the damaging effect of Affirmative Action (AA) as well as the inability and unwillingness of the architect thereof, the ANC government, to acknowledge the harsh reality of its failed racial policy.

The Public Accounts Committee's report of its on-site visit to Medupi and Kusile shows that the reasons for why Eskom is in such a dire financial state and why power supply in South Africa is at risk are no secret.

With the construction of these power plants, Eskom allowed itself to be exploited by contractors, corruption was rampant and both these projects display a lack of expertise, poor planning and utter mismanagement.

These power plants are costing millions of rand more than what was budgeted and are taking much longer to complete than planned.

The EFF blames outsourcing for the problems and identifies white people and so-called 'white rule' as the reasons for outsourcing.

However, it is due to Affirmative Action and Black Economic Empowerment that there is a lack of expertise at the power supplier. It brought about inadequate planning and that, in turn, necessitated the outsourcing.

The EFF and ANC's emphasis on race is causing South Africa's downfall. The ANC government is simply not interested in merit when it comes to making appointments. After 25 years, there is an exodus of expertise from the country and all South Africans are suffering due to the consequent poor service delivery and mismanagement.

There is only one solution for this: Abolish Affirmative Action and appoint the right, competent people who can do the job properly. Then it will not be necessary to get experts, like engineers, from overseas to assess the problems at the power plants.

What these power plants, and all the country's other public enterprises, need to solve the existing problems and meet everyone's needs is competence and not colour. The time for racial politics in South Africa is over.

The time has come to make the country work for all its people. Colour will save no-one if the South Africa-ship sinks. Because if it sinks, we will all go down with it. It is an absolute shame that the government has allowed the country to be overcome by darkness as the power supplier is bankrupt.

Issued by Wouter Wessels, FF Plus MP and chief spokesperson: Public Enterprises, 20 November 2019