Eskom must be run like a business

It will not surprise most South Africans to hear we possibly face a colder and darker winter than normal, thanks to the prospect of more load shedding if Eskom’s workers declare a wage dispute and strike. These workers – already, on average, some of the highest paid in the country – have the power to hold us to ransom. If they’re not happy, suddenly power stations will fall off the grid … sad coincidence and plausible deniability combining nicely for the unions.

The workforce at Eskom has ballooned out of all proportion to the growth in the national power supply over the past two decades … much as the civil service has swelled because it has become a place to “deploy” cadres.

Whether new broom, sweep clean chief executive Andre de Ruyter will be able to head off the powerful unions or whether he will be attacked, yet again, remains to be seen.

But what is apparent is that Eskom must been run on a strictly business footing if this country is to have a reliable supply into the future.

The time is long past where the corporation was the piggy bank for everyone, from corrupt ANC apparatchiks to unionists.

It’s a national asset and must be treated as such.