[imagesource: Eskom]

We made it through a weekend without being load shed.

Sometimes you need to celebrate the little victories in life.

Every time a notification pops up on my phone, I fear it’s EskomSePush bringing bad news. But here we are, on a Tuesday, and the lights remain on.

For how much longer is the trillion rand question – during the 2020-2021 financial year 47 days were affected by load shedding, costing the country an estimated R330 billion, according to research by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.

Getting off the power grid may cost your home in the region of R250 000. Larger South African businesses don’t have that option, and the worst may still be to come.

Yesterday, CapeTalk’s John Maytham spoke with Mike Rossouw of the Energy Intensive Users Group of SA regarding the current state of affairs at Eskom.

Rossouw knows what he’s talking about, having served for five years as an independent director of the National Electricity Regular of South Africa.

He also helped Eskom in an advisory capacity in the past.

Spoiler alert – it’s not good news. Some standout quotes from the interview:

To blame the board and the present management would be seriously short-sighted. The problem at Eskom is much bigger than that… Their plants cannot ever be recovered! … They need very drastic measures…

The problem is much bigger than the government… or the President… We’re going into vicious loadshedding for a long period of time…

They need to tell the truth, and they’re not telling the truth… Eskom is in such a dire situation… in total collapse… Eskom has lost control of the generating fleet… The plants are in total, total disarray! They cannot recover them…

Rossouw has been sounding the alarm for months, saying last month that the crisis could result “in more and more violence” and “everything will come to a standstill”.

Here’s his full interview with Maytham from yesterday:

Utterly depressing.

How did things get to this point? Eskom’s long and steady decline has been well documented, and the plundering continues to this day.

Here’s a story from earlier this month via The Citizen:

Two Eskom employees and a supplier were arrested and charged with theft, fraud and corruption related to the disappearance of spares and fuel at the Tutuka power station.

The power utility said it uncovered a “fuel oil crime syndicate” and more arrests are expected…

Eskom had been investigating corruption at Tutuka power station and said the crime syndicate guzzled more than R100 million’s worth of fuel from the power station per month.

R100 million a month, yet the trio accused of operating the syndicate was released on bail of R5 000 each, with the case set to continue on February 21 next year.

Until there’s actual accountability for criminals in this country, nothing will change.

[sources:capetalk&citizen]