Eskom’s plans to penalise consumers for seeking alternative energy sources highlight the mismanagement and corruption that have plagued the utility.
Eskom and the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) Minister Velenkosini Hlabisa have a damned cheek. They want to punish the consumers for going off the grid. It is a sheer arrogance of power. You know what happens to people who abuse their power? They are driven off from power like the Syrian ruler Assad’s flight to Russia.
Once it was the pride of Africa and one of the top power utilities in the world. But when the ANC came to power, it left the country powerless. Its policy of black empowerment saw the mass deployment of inexperienced, inefficient, lazy and roguish cadres to Eskom and other State Owned Enterprises. The greedy cadres soon stripped Eskom bare and plunged the country into an unprecedented energy crisis. This mismanagement has had a detrimental effect on the South African economy.
Eskom now faces a backlash from consumers. They are ditching Eskom and going solar. They are also switching to gas and wind turbines. It’s normal reaction from consumers. When a product becomes expensive and unreliable, consumers look for alternatives and switch to other more reliable and cheaper items.
Faced with a dwindling consumer base Eskom has come up with a shrewd plan to make up for its heavy losses. It wants to implement an infrastructure surcharge. Punish the consumers. It is the easier route.
Yet it is owed R92 billion by 75 municipalities across the country. What is the correct thing to do? It should take measures to get these local councils to repay their debt. Or they should be left in the dark. If it cuts off power to one or two municipalities others would wake up and make efforts to pay their outstanding amounts to Eskom.
And shouldn’t government step in to resolve this problem? It should tell the municipal officials that if they cannot run the municipalities efficiently, they must vamoose.
T MARKANDAN | Kloof
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media or IOL.
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