POWER TO THE PEOPLE?

South Africans have been spoilt with a month of no load-shedding.

The news has been cautiously welcomed — it comes a few weeks before the toughest election yet for the governing ANC. Load-shedding has done much damage to the party, whose leaders are singularly to blame for the state of power supply in the country.

It is hardly a stretch to assume that Eskom is under instructions to keep the lights on until after the election. Burning diesel is the conclusion many have drawn.

Yet on the other hand, the top Eskom leadership was overhauled in recent months, with the appointment of Dan Morokane as CEO and Mteto Nyati as board chair. Nyati’s integrity is impeccable and he could hardly be coaxed by politicians to fiddle with the country’s power output to bolster the ANC’s political fortunes. Neither could Morokane.

While South Africa is by no means out of the era of rolling blackouts, as electricity minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has repeatedly pointed out, the temporary reprieve is welcome. But greater transparency is needed on how Eskom is accomplishing this convenient illumination this close to an election.

The power utility is set to take the nation into its confidence this week as it holds a briefing on the state of the power grid and the outlook for winter. Let’s hope it puts all the cards on the table.