How the hell can we believe Eskom?

In a country where inane excuses are rife – remember the “fire pool” at Nkandla? – the reasons given by Eskom yesterday for the implementation of nation-wide Stage 2 load-shedding deserved to be greeted with a cynical “How the hell can we believe you?” At a time when the power supply parastatal is wanting a huge tariff increase and when there is talk in the air of lay-offs and privatisation, the timing of the load shedding is just too strange to be a mere coincidence.

According to Eskom, there was a “shortage of capacity”… on a Sunday afternoon and evening in summer?

The other excuse was a need to replenish and preserve emergency water and diesel resources so that the possibilities of load shedding in the coming week will be reduced.

Sorry, Eskom, that doesn’t make sense either. You either need to replenish (what’s been used) or preserve (to use later). What emergency did you have which necessitated action to “replenish”?

If you are playing games with us or holding us to ransom – for whatever motive – that behaviour is tantamount to economic sabotage.

President Cyril Ramaphosa’s fine promises will come to nothing if this horrendous failure is allowed to drag us all down with it.