Is Eskom the new Telkom?

Posted on October 30th, 2009 by Richard Catto 510 views

Many South Africans are beginning to think so. Like telecommunications, electricity is a basic need for every South African. Even those without an electricity supply themselves, depend on the goods and services that are produced with electricity.

Eskom has already hit South Africans with two massive price hikes: 27% last year and 31.3% this year. Earlier this month, on October 14, Eskom CEO, Jacob Maroga, announced that he wants a 45% increase each year for the next 3 years. This outrageous demand has led to widespread shock and anger.

Today, it is rumoured that the board of Eskom has asked Maroga to resign. Could this be the beginning of a new more rational response to South Africa’s energy crisis?

In September 2009, the Mail & Guardian reported that the reason why South Africa experienced massive power outages and load shedding in January 2008 was because Eskom had totally bungled their management of coal. Furthermore, in an Eskom report dated mid 2007, this problem had already been reported to Maroga by an American consultant, Susan Olsen, but no action was taken to prevent what turned out to be a major national disaster and embarrassment for South Africa the following year.

As Harry Truman famously used, the buck stops at Maroga’s desk and it seems that that buck is now kicking the crap out of him. We can hope.

FURTHER READING:
Eskom board asks CEO Maroga to resign
Eskom board asks CEO Maroga to resign – report
Eskom’s proposed hike ‘a serious shock to economy’
Cosatu outraged over Eskom’s proposed 45% hike
CEO scores R5m amid new claims of incompetence

Tags: Eskom, Jacob Maroga
Filed under Eskom |

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