Roots of the Eskom crisis
Dire lack of technical, managerial skills and knowledge in all areas of service delivery
IN ALL forms of media over the past week the electricity load shedding crisis at Eskom, which is supposed to be a utility operating in the interests of the public, has dominated the headlines.
Given the vital role that electricity plays in our daily lives, the frustration and anxieties were palpable and understandable, especially on social media platforms.
But there is a plausible explanation for this crisis, for which purpose “political correctness” must be given a bloody nose.
The crisis at Eskom reveals more glaringly than anywhere else what is among the biggest problems we face in this country since the ANC won the 1994 election – the dire lack of technical and managerial skills and knowledge in all areas of delivery of public services.
Whether it is services such as water and electricity, or schools and hospitals, we face similar problems across the country and across government departments.
Worse still is that these problems were combined with and compounded by the policy choices the ANC made, or was forced to make, in the 1990s.
We have seen the increasing commercialisation, corporatisation and commodification of public services, giving birth to companies like City Power, Johannesburg Water and Pikitup.
To a large extent these processes explain why the price of both electricity and water have escalated dramatically since these companies were formed. So poor has the performance been of the “cadres” the ANC has “deployed” to run, manage and control these services, that Joburg councillor Nico de Jager, member of the mayoral committee in the environment and infrastructure services department, complained about the “muddled” load-shedding schedules of Eskom.
These “resulted in the load shedding of entire substations, instead of the block-by-block approach”, he said.
This was due to City Power using a different version of the schedule from the one Eskom used after the system crashed.
This basic lack of co-ordination and management – even in dealing with a crisis – is shocking, but revealing.
Bear in mind, too, that load shedding was abruptly announced on Sunday, February 10, catching us all by surprise and unprepared. The most serious problem with electricity outages is that virtually everything functional to our society is affected – traffic lights, businesses, schools, petrol stations, stores, restaurants, etc. But it is very important that we understand the bigger political picture in which load shedding occurs, which very clearly indicates poor leadership in government.
In this regard, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan admitted to design and construction problems at Eskom’s Kusile and Medupi power plants.
This was most regrettable because these plants were, in fact, commissioned precisely to address our serious capacity constraints.
Gordhan said “wrong choices” were made at these plants. But he was finance minister when these plants were commissioned. How is it that only now, years later, he realises these serious mistakes, especially given the immense importance of a reliable supply of electricity to the country?
Gordhan further stated that Eskom was facing “massive structural, operational and financial problems”.
By all accounts this was a very serious admission by him, which has severe negative implications for this country, especially its effects on an economy already in serious crisis.
Ominously, Gordhan warned that more outages to deal with maintenance problems can be expected. But he made no admission of where he or other Eskom or government leaders should bear some responsibility for this crisis. I am now thinking of what former Eskom chief executive Brian Molefe, or his corrupt connivance with the notorious Gupta family, may have done to contribute to this crisis.
But the most telling thing to come from Gordhan – which serves to reinforce the earlier points I made about incompetence – is his decision to “bring in external power station engineers, get an independent audit on exactly what’s going on”.
This does not only confirm the problems of incompetence and experience at Eskom, but is strikingly revealing of poor leadership. How can the relevant minister not know what’s going on at Eskom? He also spoke of bringing in experts to deal with the “operational problems” to “restore Eskom to full functionality”.
Whichever way we look at it, one thing is very clear: regarding arguably the most important public service, the ANC government has failed the public repeatedly. Collectively, they must take responsibility for the electricity crisis at Eskom.
On the most important public service, the ANC government has failed the public repeatedly. They must take responsibility