GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
18 May 2023
While those with the mandate to fix the electricity crisis throw pies at each other to try and duck responsibility for Eskom’s failures, ordinary South Africans pay for their folly with a winter of deepening power cuts and an increasing sense of hopelessness.
Eskom says it anticipates a minimum of Stage 5 load shedding for most of the cold season, while there is a strong possibility of Stage 8 over the peak winter months.
Yet this week saw former Eskom CEO, and now celebrity author, Andre de Ruyter, and Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, who is charged with overseeing Eskom on behalf of the South African public, seemingly set on distancing themselves from culpability.
But the truth is, they have failed together.
It is common cause that when Gordhan appointed De Ruyter to run Eskom, the power facility was already severely compromised by mismanagement, inefficiency, corruption and poor planning – to the point that it was no longer able to supply the country’s electricity needs.
Power cuts, called loadshedding, had been introduced in 2007, the same year much of the world went into a recession. While most countries have long since managed to consign the 2007-2009 economic setbacks to history, South Africa has never recovered. It is difficult for an economy to stabilize, let alone grow, when the amount of available energy is contracting.
The Gordhan-De Ruyter axis was thus critical not only to stabilizing Eskom, but to enable the country’s economic recovery, to create jobs and address poverty.
The amount of time South African homes and businesses have had to make do without being able to switch on a light or plug in a tool has increased dramatically under their watch – and so has the amount of taxpayers’ money being spent on diesel generation to partially compensate for endless power station failures.
Gordhan and De Ruyter are part of the broader leadership team in Eskom and government who have let the country down.
Any attempt by either of them to exonerate themselves from blame by pinning the blame on the other, is a pointless exercise and means nothing to South Africa.
Many arguments could be made around what De Ruyter should have rather been doing or what Gordhan’s impact was on the worsening crisis. This does not change the looming Stage 8 loadshedding that is causing increasing concern and panic among South Africans faced with a long, dark and cold winter.
Perhaps there was more logic in the creation of the new position of an Electricity Minister than some of us thought…But whether it is Ramokgopa or Gordhan, the acting/incoming Eskom CEO or Mantashe – someone needs to start taking action that will address the immediate power crisis concerns.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 082 518 3264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 073 367 1223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za