Eskom’s lame excuses fail to convince a sceptical public

THAT dreaded term, load-shedding, was back on everybody’s lips this week as South Africa was hit by a new wave of power cuts on Thursday. Sadly, it is likely to stay with us for some time to come. State-owned power utility Eskom warned on Friday that more blackouts are on the way because it is due to partially shut down the Koeberg nuclear power station for routine maintenance.

Thursday’s blackouts — which marked the first major residential load-shedding in six years — left many South Africans fuming at Eskom and the government, largely because of the way in which the crisis was handled.

Many consumers were only told at the last minute about the planned power cuts, and others complained that the blackout schedules supplied by their municipalities were mostly inaccurate.

But at the root of much of the anger is the breakdown in trust between Eskom and the public.

The power utility blamed Thursday’s crisis on the rain, which it said had soaked much of its stockpile of coal. However, considering that Eskom had dismissed earlier warnings by various independent energy experts that South Africa was heading for a wave of blackouts, this week’s power cuts left many consumers speculating that the power utility was hiding the real extent of the crisis.

And their suspicions are not groundless. When a power crisis hit Cape Town just before the local government election in 2006, a cabinet minister blamed it on sabotage, claiming that a “bolt” had damaged one of the generators at Koeberg. The bolt, then-minister Alec Erwin told parliament, “did not get there by accident”. His claims were later proved to be false. With winter fast approaching, questions are being asked about the parastatal’s ability to supply energy. In the past few years, Eskom has struggled to cope with the increased demand in winter, and Koeberg’s partial closure will make matters even more complicated.

Unless Eskom is completely open with the public about the extent of the crisis — especially given the delays in building the Medupi power station that was expected to bring much relief to the creaking power infrastructure — it is unlikely to get the kind of cooperation it seeks from the public to better manage the crisis.

So far, Eskom and the Department of Public Enterprises seem to offer nothing but weak excuses to explain the power crisis.

They have consistently refused to take the blame, shifting it to everyone from employees to suppliers and, now, wet coal. Unless they begin to take responsibility, the crisis will continue unabated for years to come — further weakening an already troubled economy.