“Ending load shedding is not the end destination,” were the words said by Eskom CEO Dan Marokane two days ago at the power utility’s Generation Recovery Plan media briefing.
Eskom has been dishing out a remarkable buffet-style plant recovery and performance at levels not seen in years. This is thanks to the incredible team that has led Eskom out of the power-shedding doldrums and energy crisis of the past years.
The multifaceted team made up of the executive management and the board is led by the most self-effacing, soft-spoken Dr Mteto Nyati, while the CEO steering the ship is none other than the larger-than-life, streetwise smart with a sweet personality Marokane.
Who can forget the longest-serving Eskom executive, the humble, quiet and down-to-earth chief financial officer Calib Cassim, who has kept the ship afloat after former CEO André de Ruyter’s exit.
The board of Eskom also has Bheki Ntshalintshali, who is the former general secretary of Cosatu, a leader who was dubbed as the trade union’s “walking encyclopedia”.
The rest of the board possesses a mix of finance, legal, HR, technical and engineering backgrounds. They are Dr Busisiwe Vilakazi, Dr Claudelle von Eck, Dr Tsakani Mthombeni, Ayanda Mafuleka, Clive Le Roux, Fathima Gany, Leslie Mkhabela, Lwazi Goqwana and Tryphosa Ramano.
Other unsung heroes are Group Executive Generation Bheki Nxumalo; the head of Transmission (now National Transmission Company South Africa) Segomoco Scheppers; as well as Monde Bala, who is responsible for Distribution and is the acting group executive of Human Resources.
All these stalwarts mentioned were hands-on in steering Eskom’s turnaround and implementing the Generation Recovery Plan and are to be commended.
We always and often complain when things go wrong, but seldom do we ever compliment those responsible when things go right. As a society, we need to change that culture and give credit where it is due.
We must also praise the work done by power station managers and the employees of Eskom power plants, including those working to maintain and manage the national transmission and distribution infrastructure, under the leadership of the system operator, Louis du Plessis.
These men and women leading the new post-load shedding Eskom era have demonstrated exceptional performance and delivered way beyond their call of duty.
More than 155 days have passed ever since South Africa endured rolling blackouts and load shedding. How things have changed for the better.
Almost a year ago, we were all depressed and angry as a nation due to load shedding and Eskom’s dismal electricity generation performance.
I have seen mainstream media in the past glorify and hero-worship every word of former Eskom executives just because they were white. In reality, those people tasked with maintaining and managing our national electricity generation system and infrastructure were not performing at all.
This caused unspoken suffering and economic hardships never experienced before in South Africa over the 30 years of our democracy. The economy shrank while hitting the lowest levels of productivity suffering to reel out of the 1% economic growth mark. Ever since load shedding started a couple of years ago, prices of goods saw massive 400% increases in that period. This as the cost of fuel rocketed to more than R26 a litre of fuel. The more expensive food and fuel cost, fewer and fewer people could afford to buy basic commodities. To this day, the prices of financial and economic services, food and basic commodities and fuel haven’t come down.
Eskom’s energy crisis crippled the economy and left households under severe financial pressure with many people unable to feed their kids. So the end of the energy crisis is to be celebrated as the economy can start to recover.
But I am still shocked that after such a harsh period, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has to date refused to slash interest rates in order to bolster growth and economic recovery. SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago, together with the monetary policy committee (MPC), still thinks that maintaining high interest rates in an almost crippled economy is a prudent monetary policy decision.
The goal of the MPC is to stabilise inflation at the midpoint of the target band that it believes will improve the economic outlook and reduce borrowing costs. The SARB uses inflation targeting, which aims to maintain consumer price inflation between 3% and 6%.
The MPC also believes that additional measures could improve economic conditions such as reaching a prudent public debt level; improving the functioning of network industries; lowering administered price inflation; keeping real wage growth in line with productivity gains; as well as by taxing wages and incomes through high interest rates.
The governor and the MPC can and should slash interest rates so as to give the economy a much-needed cushion of support.
The men and women of Eskom and its leadership has shown us that they can turn a national energy crisis disaster into a national wonder story. We have to celebrate these gigantic successes and give credit where it is due. This proudly black majority Eskom team and staff has proven that where there is a will there's a way.
* In the next instalment of Eskom's movers and shakers achievers, I will dedicate a reasonable focus on the not-so-well-known managers of Eskom power stations, who are seldom mentioned.The story of Eskom is a good story to tell.
Crown Prince Adil Nchabeleng is president of Transform RSA and an independent energy expert.
* The views in this column are independent of Business Report and Independent Media.
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