The ANC government isn’t solely to blame for the energy crisis crippling the country, according to Deputy President David Mabuza who on Thursday said Eskom directors and managers had also failed to deliver.
The state-owned utility, which supplies virtually all of SA’s power, is hamstrung by debt of about R392bn, with maintenance issues at its ageing power plants leading to regular bouts of load-shedding that threaten to bring the economy to a standstill.
In a heated exchange in April with Mkhuleko Hlengwa, the chairperson of parliament’s standing committee on public accounts, Eskom board member Busisiwe Mavuso said the management team shouldn’t be blamed for the crisis, stating “we cannot be the fall guy for this ANC-led government.”
During a question-and-answer session in parliament on Thursday, MPs quizzed Mabuza about the crisis at Eskom and the delays in finalising the construction of the Medupi and Kusile power plants, which are meant to alleviate SA’s energy crisis.
Mabuza said it would be unfair to completely lay all the blame with the ANC. Without mentioning names, he said some previous Eskom executives had failed in their roles.
“What I see in Eskom is the lack of maintenance of these power stations, the cost overruns of the two new power stations [Medupi and Kusile] and there are design problems which is the responsibility of the engineers working in Eskom, as well as the CEO at that time to ensure we avoid these unnecessary costs and defects,” he said.
“There are people who have been appointed in different positions in this power utility to do certain specific jobs. Now I can tell you that at a certain point these people have failed the government.
“But ... there is no use [in] point[ing] fingers ... Let us fix the problem. The problem is that we are faced with ageing infrastructure that we must decommission and find alternative energy generation mechanisms, concentrating on renewable energy ... and we are making progress,” Mabuza added.
SA has connected more than 1500MW megawatts of energy into the grid, mainly from renewable sources, he said.
“This [energy crisis] will not be a permanent problem but needs all our efforts and positive mindsets,” he said.
phakathib@businesslive.co.za
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