As President Cyril Ramaphosa chairs meetings this week to address the power crisis, it seems he has little faith in the newly elected national executive committee (NEC).
Although stabilizing Eskom and providing reliable electricity is part of the ANC’s election manifesto in 2021, the president has yet to start a meeting with the NEC to control the electricity crisis.
All ideas are tired
But he has held meetings with other political parties, making people wonder if the ruling party has exhausted all ideas to save the ailing power utility.
Ramaphosa’s drastic action also makes people wonder if this is a strategy to shift responsibility from himself, the government and the ANC to share Eskom’s failure with other political parties.
But even so, the president must stop acting as if he is running a coalition government. It is high time he engaged the ANC NEC on this matter.
The focus should be on letting go of the burden
The ANC should dedicate days, if not weeks, to debating how to remove the burdens that make the country a mess. Instead of discussing the rule step-aside and the Phala Phala theft scandal, which the previous NEC dismally failed to address, the new NEC must prove that it means business and is only interested in issues that affect the lives of South Africans.
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Otherwise, the party is not fit to govern. Of course these meetings will be talk and will not produce anything concrete.
This is due to the fact that these political parties are in coalition in the metro, but they have failed to address the issue of basic service delivery.
DA is experiencing challenges
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is facing challenges in running Joburg and Tshwane. The city of Joburg is in a mess and Tshwane is on fire because of an audit report that reeks of incompetence from the DA.
But all he did was blame the ANC for the DA’s alleged corruption of municipal finances. How does the ANC expect the party to come up with a solution for Eskom, when they have failed to clean up where they are managing and taking responsibility?
Eskom has more than R50 billion in debt
Since the municipality owes Eskom more than R50 billion, the DA will focus on how to resolve Eskom’s debt in the municipality where it operates.
In the metro, the DA-led coalition seems unconcerned about potholes, broken street lights, garbage collection, sewage and damaged infrastructure.
It shows that he has a lot on his plate and the president should not complicate his responsibilities by adding anything that is beyond him.
This political party that Ramaphosa wants to run is not interested in anything other than being populist.
That is why the DA will move to the ANC headquarters, Luthuli House – instead of the Union Buildings or Eskom’s Megawatt Park – next Wednesday, knowing this could lead to violent clashes.
‘political point’
The Economic Freedom Fighters and ActionSA are no different in that they also score political points. Legal action to force Eskom and Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan to stop load disclosure is political opportunism.
By supporting the movement, United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa, Build One SA leader Mmusi Maimane and the Inkatha Freedom Party are trying to be relevant.
The ANC must stop acting as if it does not govern the country and take responsibility for handling the burden.
The ANC only needs to meet with the Eskom board, address Eskom’s debt, provide capital for power plant maintenance and elect a new executive director.
No more, no less. South Africans are tired of meetings without action. The ANC should be reminded not to fix the Eskom issue based on the upcoming 2024 elections, they should look beyond that and support a long lasting solution for the electricity utility.
Cheap ways to get votes should not be the concern of the ANC. Their concern should be the students who cannot learn, the small businesses who cannot survive and the breadwinners who lose their jobs because of the burden.
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