No shame at Eskom

UNDER normal circumstances, Public Enterprises Minister Lynne Brown would be sacked – and at the very least kicked out of politics. Under her watch, a number of state-owned enterprises have become cash cows for corrupt men and women – all with ties to the ANC and the Gupta family.

The most scandalous reports of corruption have emanated from our electricity utility, Eskom.

Over the past few months, South Africans have watched, listened and read with horror and anger as reports of corruption at Eskom began filtering into the public domain.

Initially, the exact scale of this feeding frenzy was difficult to visualise.

But now, a parliamentary enquiry into Eskom has lifted the lid on the extent of the problem. And what has emerged so far has been horrific.

Evidence by a number of former Eskom officials has highlighted the extent of “state capture”. And at the centre of it all has been the influence of the Guptas and their acolytes.

The story of the utility in recent years has centred on rigged tenders, the sidelining of independent-minded officials and the appointment in their place of Gupta acolytes to its board. Billions of rand of public money have been lost to crooks.

Brown’s role in all of this has been, in the words of former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, “denial, denial, denial”. She has denied meeting the Guptas and she has denied knowing that certain Eskom officials were hand-picked by the Guptas.

Brown has become the “I didn’t know” minister. Let’s be blunt about this: “I didn’t know” ministers should have no place in a South African cabinet. We have a president who has 783 charges, including corruption and racketeering, hanging over his head.

It is Zuma who appointed Brown, Faith Muthambi, Bathabile Dlamini and Nomvula Mokonyane – surely the worst ministers since democracy – to his cabinet.

And so, although we believe that Brown should be sacked, we are not holding our breath. Zuma rewards incompetency. On top of all this, Eskom has asked the National Energy Regulator of South Africa to okay a 19.9% tariff increase. After wasting billions of rand on corruption and irregular expenditure, it wants us to pay more for electricity. It boggles the mind.

Does Eskom have no shame?