The new chair of the ANC’s influential economic policy committee sought to cast doubt on Eskom’s transparency over the reasons for persistent blackouts, saying that blaming wet coal and maintenance backlogs does not stand up to scrutiny.
"Eskom does not give us a whole picture; what they say does not add up. We want the full story on what is happening with maintenance, since we have been told that maintenance plans is the major reason for this load-shedding," Mmamoloko Kubayi told Business Day in an interview on Thursday.
"Every few years, we get told that not enough maintenance is being done, but where are the maintenance schedules? There is a lot of focus on generation, but what about transmission? Does high-quality coal not do well in the rain?"
The comments by Kubayi — who took the reins as the head of the ANC economic transformation committee to replace Enoch Godongwana, who was appointed finance minister in 2021 — come in a week when SA has been seized with rolling power cuts as high as stage 4. In 2021, the country recorded more than 60 days of blackouts, the worst since the start of the load-shedding in 2008.
Kubayi’s comments shine an unforgiving spotlight on the ANC government, which watched as the utility ran its plants too hard in the past decade, neglected long-term maintenance and dragged its feet in bringing in new renewable generation capacity. The result is that the energy availability factor, which measures the performance of its plant, has plunged from 90% two decades ago to just more than 60% now, meaning that at any one point only 60% of Eskom’s plant is available for generation. Eskom denied the implied lack of transparency.
Spokesperson Sikonathi Mantshantsha said that ageing Eskom power stations mean that power cuts are likely to be a feature in the SA economy for a long time.
"These being machines, breakdowns are inevitable, even when the highest standards of care are employed.
"The power stations are on average 43-years old this year, and as Eskom has repeatedly communicated, the poor maintenance record of the plant plays a big role in the breakdowns," Mantshantsha said.
Kubayi said that perhaps a full briefing with Eskom’s political head, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan, "was necessary". He also sits on the economic policy committee.
"I don’t think we summon. We will come together to … find solutions," Kubayi said. "I am already engaging some ministers; they have said that they require support.
"As the ANC, we have to hold the comrades in government accountable. We do not want to control the state. We want to evaluate the ANC government’s work and understand what is working and not working."
Energy constraints over the past decade have been among the biggest hurdles for the economy, souring the mood in boardrooms. Companies in SA have an additional layer of costs in running a business because many have had to invest in
generators that have to seamlessly kick in when Eskom imposes power cuts.
Kubayi, who is the minister of human settlements, is serving as acting finance minister while Godongwana is in Washington attending the IMF spring meetings, the finance ministry said in an emailed response to questions. She is also co-chair of the cabinet’s economic cluster along with mineral resources & energy minister Gwede Mantashe.
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