[imagesource: Waldo Swiegers / Bloomberg]

There’s never a dull moment with Eskom.

If you exclude the five to 12 hours a day you’re likely without power, of course.

So, what news do we have regarding South Africa’s power (f)utility this fine Monday morning?

South African businessman Rob Hersov says various ‘mafia’ elements run Eskom. He claims there is a ‘diesel mafia’, a ‘cable mafia’, and other forces at play behind the scenes doing their utmost to ensure that the state-owned enterprise is thwarted in its efforts to keep the lights on.

SABC News reports:

Questioning Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan’s leadership, Hersov asked how long would take for him to fix the crisis?

In Friday’s interview with SABC’s On Point, the billionaire pointed out that Eskom needs to have someone like Gayton McKenzie on its newly-constituted board to deal with the various mafia elements that have become part of its operational existence.

You can see the interview with Hersov begin from 45 seconds below:

Eskom CEO André de Ruyter certainly had a reminder of the clandestine elements of his job.

He says he discovered a small device under the driver’s seat of his vehicle while he was cleaning it on Friday.

More via News24:

A sophisticated bugging device was found in the car of… de Ruyter last week, just as a major shift in political pressure put his continued tenure at risk.

…[He] discovered the device, a small microchip which has an antennae and batteries, in his car, and approached two experts in the intelligence and forensic community with photographs of the device, which is a little bigger than a postage stamp.

Image: Supplied to News24

Both experts confirmed the device had low-frequency transmission capacity, with location, and potentially audio, recording capability. One of the experts pointed out that some identifying marks on the chip had been etched off in an apparent attempt to stymie identification of the manufacturer.

Further analysis of the device is set to take place before definitive answers regarding its capability can be given. The preliminary report by the experts stated this is “not something ordinary private detectives use and it is not available on the open market” and alluded to it being a “National Security Agency-level device”.

Institute for Security Studies analyst Willem Els said his prime suspects would be criminal syndicates that currently benefit from the dysfunction at Eskom.

Another totally normal, ‘nothing to see here’ weekend regarding Eskom, then.

[sources:sabcnews&news24]