As South Africa continues to reel from the devastating bouts of Eskom blackouts, experts said yesterday that the ANC NEC lekgotla-proposed the state of a national disaster is a signal from the government overwhelmed by the electricity crisis. When the state of national disaster will implement an emergency procurement regime and facilitate a strict policy in electric utilities, political analysts warn of the possibility of opening a flood of corruption, which was last seen at the peak of the Covid pandemic. Reflecting on the results of the ANC NEC lekgotla, party secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the meeting encouraged President Cyril Ramaphosa “to announce…
As South Africa continues to reel from the devastating bouts of Eskom blackouts, experts said yesterday that the ANC NEC lekgotla-proposed the state of national disaster is a signal from the government overwhelmed by the electricity crisis.
When the state of national disaster will implement an emergency procurement regime and facilitate a strict policy in electric utilities, political analysts warn of the possibility of opening a flood of corruption, which was last seen at the peak of the Covid pandemic.
Reflecting on the results of the ANC NEC lekgotla, party secretary general Fikile Mbalula said the meeting encouraged President Cyril Ramaphosa “to declare a state of national disaster, which also requires the ANC to reconnect with our communities and society, as the ANC. does not have a monopoly of ideas”.
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“Therefore, we call on the whole community to work with us to solve these challenges gradually, because they affect us all – especially the poor and the working class.”
The Cabinet was also directed “to study in detail the obstacles to the delivery of infrastructure, vandalism and counterrevolutionary tendencies, with the aim of increasing infrastructure investment and strengthening the capabilities and capacity of the country”.
Eskom ‘main site’ of corruption in SA
With a budget negatively affected by municipal debt and with a debt of R4.8 trillion nationally, the embattled Eskom needs 46 000 megawatts (MW) added to its current capacity of 26 000MW.
Quoting former Eskom chairman Jabu Mabuza, independent political analyst Sandile Swana said Eskom was “the theater – the main site of state capture and corruption in South Africa”.
“The introduction of a state of national disaster – a regime where procurement rules are completely abolished – is a door wide open for theft by various suppliers, which could be DA funds. [Democratic Alliance] and the ANC, in light of the upcoming 2024 elections.
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“[It] set to target procurement across the board – spare parts and equipment for Eskom.
“The delays at the Kusile and Medupi power stations and many of the failures at Eskom depend on the misconduct of Eskom employees, suppliers and ANCaligned companies, including Chancellor House. [a mining, engineering, energy and information technology holding company].
“We have to accept that when the election comes, corruption will also escalate to have surplus funds for the election,” he said.
ANC ‘failed’
Skeptical of Ramaphosa’s power plans, he said: “As deputy president, he presided over the war room at Eskom, but failed consistently to change the situation. Nothing changed during his tenure as deputy or president.
“The state of national disaster is an honest admission by the ANC and the government that they have failed to address the crisis.”
Policy analyst Dr Nkosikhulule Nyembezi said the ANC’s decision to move to declare a national disaster appears to be more in line with the expectations of the general public than before.
“Using the state of national disaster to deal with Eskom’s problems will expose the country to the risk of ruining the country’s finances, especially before the elections.”
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University of Johannesburg associate professor of economics Peter Baur said imposing a state of emergency could speed up the repair of damaged national infrastructure or start the long process of reversing the situation.
“If the appropriate strategy directed by the disaster management committee is applied, many legislative, political, administrative or bureaucratic obstacles can be quickly overcome by setting a solution-based strategy to overcome the energy crisis.”
20 years of bad policy choices
Center for Information and Alternative Development economist Dominic Brown said the implementation of a national state of disaster “should allow for speeding up the policy decisions needed to deal with the burden”.
“Critically, this includes freeing up the resources needed to buy diesel, which Eskom can buy at a lower cost, if the SA Revenue Service and the department of mineral resources and energy grant licenses to buy diesel from wholesalers.
“It is also important that there should be public disclosure of all contracts and try to insource maintenance capacity to reduce against price gouging and inflated outsourcing costs,” he said.
Brown said the energy crisis and the Eskom crisis were “rooted in more than 20 years of bad policy choices”.
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Info
Load shedding increased to stage 5
- Eskom increased load shedding to phase 5 from noon to 9pm, while phase 6 is carried out until 5am.
- Furthermore, stage 5 is expected to be carried out continuously until further notice.
- “In the last 24 hours, six generating units have been damaged, one unit in Duvha and Hendrina. [power stations] not yet returned to service.
- “In addition, each generating unit in Matla and Arnot has returned to service.
- “There are delays in generating units each at Duvha, Kendal, Grootvlei and Kriel power stations,” Eskom said.
- At least 18 123 megawatts of generating capacity are not available due to breakdowns, with another 4 654MW out in maintenance.
- “Eskom is asking members of the public to continue to help by reducing usage and saving electricity,” the electricity utility said. – SAnews.gov.za
– brians@citizen.co.za