Plans to move the cash-strapped and embattled power utility, Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprise to Mineral Resources and Energy, is a bad idea, which is likely to increase instability and maladministration in the floundering entity, according to energy experts. Hilton Trollip. Following the African National Congress (ANC) national conference last week, it was decided that state-owned enterprises operating in certain economic sectors should be monitored by relevant government departments. Party President Cyril Ramaphosa was also quoted as saying that this resolution will be implemented and the government will decide how and when…
Plans to move the power-strapped and embattled utility, Eskom from the Department of Public Enterprise to Mineral Resources and Energy, is a bad idea, which is likely to increase instability and maladministration in the floundering entity, according to energy experts. Hilton Trollip.
Following the African National Congress (ANC) national conference last week, it was decided that state-owned enterprises operating in certain economic sectors should be monitored by relevant government departments.
Party president Cyril Ramaphosa was also quoted as saying that this resolution will be implemented and the government will decide how and when it will be implemented.
The move could mean that entities such as Eskom and Transnet will move to the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Department of Transport, rather than the Department of Public Enterprises (DPE) where they currently reside.
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The Department of Transport will get a new political head following the election of Fikile Mbalula as ANC secretary-general in December, while minerals and energy is headed by Gwede Mantashe.
Paving the way for more state capture
Talk to The Warga there, Trollip asked the move, saying it could worsen the situation of instability, uncertainty and maladministration.
“The ANC through disrupting the government structure required by law and the government structure agreed upon over the past 10 years has created room for gross maladministration, the worst of which is State Capture,” Trollip lamented.
“Instead of dealing with this gross maladministration, they find scapegoats such as the CEO of Eskom and make further steps such as the decision to move BUMN and departments. They create the same place that they created to capture the state, for special interests, directly working with ministers to destroy basic democracy , making democratic policies, and implementing democratic policies and proper BUMN administration.
What is the effect of such a move?
Trollip believes that the effect of the move, if it happens as President Ramaphosa says, will cause uncertainty to be piled on top of the current chaos caused by the previous Eskom board, half of which resigned around July last year, forcing the appointment of a new board .
Add to the fact that the CEO of Eskom André de Ruyter has also thrown in the towel, after threats, allegations of destabilizing the government, and most recently, trying to survive.
“So, if Eskom is moved in the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy, there will be a new seat that will cause instability or the possibility, according to President Ramaphosa, will take some time to move. So, in the meantime, the current board will be a lame duck seat , whose incoming CEO will be a lame duck CEO, and political and governance instability and problems will increase, and economic stagnation and decline driven by energy shortages will continue,” Trollip warned.
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What could lead to this new ANC policy?
Trollip is of the opinion that some powerful ministers may enter the ANC conference with the idea of forcing the policy through the conference.
“It was not discussed properly, there were no conference notes for major policy decisions to be taken properly… Desperate, reckless, and I think about a small group of people, maybe with Mantashe at the helm, trying to force a certain energy policy into our democracy .
“The type of policy that should come out of a democratic government according to our Constitution, should be developed in a consultative process by the government and not just desperately forced to the ANC government, and this is the most irresponsible and reckless behavior.” said Trollip.
Trollip said the ANC’s national conference in December last year was a brutal battle between different groups for leadership positions in the ANC’s National Executive Committee (NEC).
As a result, it is impossible under these circumstances, they can discuss reasonably or wisely to make major policies such as changing the government structure to open BUMN.
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Load shedding forecast for 2023
Many parts of the country were once again in darkness on Tuesday night, as the burden increased to stage 6.
As the new business year begins to shift and factories begin to use more electricity, demand will increase, and due to insufficient supply, the possibility of load shedding will increase.
Trollip said as the year goes on, this is most likely to get worse.
“There is some additional supply coming online due to the exemption granted to Independent Power Producers (IPP) that connect directly to private sector buyers and some municipalities, and this will only start very slowly, because the exemption was only granted at the end of the year.
“This will provide relief, because private sector customers with IPPs will sort themselves out, but it will not provide relief for the public system,” said Trollip.
Trollip said that no new energy will come to the system through the publicly managed generation capacity expansion plan, which is regulated by the integrated resource plan managed by the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE), stressing that the first important suppliers will only be coming in 2024 and 2025.
Even they, however, are less than what is needed to overcome the burden.
“The reason is that they are very short, first because it has been delayed for many years, because it was delayed by the department and secondly, when the department opened the offer window, they opened it in a way that did not ask for enough to stop the load. Loose. Also the inflexibility of the system used and the way it is used , this makes bid window 5 get less than it should, and bid window 6 even less,” added Trollip.
Be prepared to range between stages 3 and 6 for the coming months
Meanwhile another energy expert, James MacKay, CEO of the Energy Council of South Africa (ECSA), said that we will continue to cycle between stages 3 and 5, with some stage 6 at least six to seven months later.
“There are several units planned to return to service by mid-year, including Koeberg, Kusile, Matla and Medupi, and this will relieve some of the pressure, but Eskom is rarely able to meet deadlines.
“Lod shedding forced a big increase in the government’s focus on Eskom, which is welcome and this has been expanded to include operations, maintenance, corruption and criminality. There is a lot that has been said in the media about these issues and the ambition is good,” said MacKay.
He said that the problem is something that needs to be done, but there is no clarity on how and who will be responsible and when.
Questions about holding Mantashe to account
MacKay also has doubts about the decision to move Eskom in Mantashe’s department.
“This is clearly not a good government move because policy making, implementation, and market monopoly are all under one control. That said, DPE has not done anything to transform one of the failed BUMN, and is generally underperforming, so it can be said that DMRE will have a better ability to act and quickly resolve Eskom’s problems.
“There is no indication, however, that the DMRE minister will be responsible for the new authority given and that is a concern,” MacKay said.
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