ANC must focus on real problems, not factional battles

Eskom has finally admitted what many South Africans have suspected, and feared that load-shedding is here to stay and will be made a daily reality. Eskom warned South Africans last week about prolonged load-shedding in the next six to 12 months. It said the prolonged power cuts were due to major capital projects that it had been necessary for it to undertake.

It also said it did not have enough money to buy diesel to keep the lights on.

Part of this cash flow problem are the dysfunctional municipalities which owe Eskom R52bn.

This is a crisis created by an inability to govern by mainly ANC cronies who are more preoccupied with access to power and the public purse than they are about delivering services and development at the local government level.

They have run down these municipalities to the point that some firms, which bring revenue for them to be able to pay debts like the money owed to Eskom, have to close down.

One case is that of the Ditsobotla municipality in the North West where Clover had to leave because of poor services by the local authority.

The municipality, much like many around the country, including in the Eastern Cape, is run by the ANC.

Coincidentally, the ANC party had its national executive committee meeting last weekend.

The NEC is the party’s highest decision-making body between its elective conferences. Word from inside is that the meeting was dominated by factional fights over the Phala Phala saga where millions of dollars allegedly stashed in President Cyril Ramaphosa’s couches were stolen.

The president is alleged to have covered up the theft and his detractors are using this to nail him just a few weeks before the party is due to go to an elective congress.

So in its very last NEC meeting, the ANC spent the weekend discussing factions, succession, and not the real problems faced by South Africans, which include unemployment, poverty, potholes, water-shedding and crime, to name a few.

Instead of taking stock of the last five years, which includes a bold promise by Ramaphosa himself that load-shedding would be a thing of the past, the party focused on its own factional battles, as usual.

One wonders if the president was even aware of the pending announcement by Eskom on load-shedding before he addressed his own comrades.

If the ruling party does not place SA and its problems centrally, it needs to “step aside” and fortunately South Africans have a chance to force this in 2024.

Instead of taking stock of the last five years the party focused on its own factional battles