As the country struggles to meet its power supply needs, resulting in load-shedding, energy minister Gwede Mantashe suggested that forming a second state-owned power utility is the answer to the crisis.
This revelation comes at a time when President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to outline his government's plan to bring new electricity generation projects into the national grid to deal with the devastating blackouts.
But it is perhaps Mantashe's proposal of another Eskom in his own department that has caused a stir, and rightfully so. Mantashe insisted that while private sector involvement in power generation was part of the plan, SA needed a second state-owned generation company.
“So what we are suggesting – it’s not a decision yet – is let’s have a second generation company of the state and that generation company must focus on base load and there must be a build programme for power stations,” Mantashe was quoted as saying by Sunday Times.
Ramaphosa was also reported to have described the proposal of a second state-owned electricity generation company as a “great idea”.
The idea to end Eskom's monopoly is a no-brainer but Eskom's failure over the years has also been a result of the ANC's governance failures. The party is yet to take responsibility for the situation that the power utility is in, resulting from its own leadership failures.
What Mantashe is proposing is therefore another lame attempt at avoiding taking full responsibility for the mess at Eskom, which has plunged the country into the abyss. It beggars belief that Mantashe feels that establishing another state-owned company would solve the problems that were created by a failed state utility under his party's watch. There is plenty of evidence pointing to how Eskom was allowed to become rundown with the help of politicians and, if anything, the state capture report affirmed this.
Load-shedding has been part of SA life for nearly 15 years and the ANC-led government ignored all the warning signs. Even when they attempted to do something about the crisis by building new power stations, the costs ballooned and corruption became the breathing mechanism in every project.
SA does not need another state-owned company that will add salt to the wound by draining the public purse through mismanagement and maladministration. There is too much at stake now, with jobs under threat, small businesses going under and a depressed economy, to allow politicians to play games with public resources.
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