Ramaphosa's view on SA's electricity crisis is correct.
Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is correct in saying that the power crisis that originated in South Africa is not just a problem for the government, but that it affects all South Africans. However it should be recognized that government should indeed take responsibility for causing the problem.
According to AfriBusiness's CEO, Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, the call by government that there should be a collective effort towards finding a solution to the country's power shortages, is a challenge that all sectors of society should accept.
AfriBusiness therefore proposes the following four-point plan to keep South Africa out of the dark:
1) Deregulate the electricity supply industry and the price formation mechanism of electricity.
2) Privatise Eskom.
3) The electricity distribution network should be managed on a concession basis by private businesses.
4) Abandon demands with regard to BEE and affirmative action, so that all individuals and communities, regardless of race, can make an equal effort to solve the problem.
According to Jansen van Rensburg the core problem with the South African electricity supply industry is that it has been an over-regulated and nationalised industry for more than a century. "South Africa is now reaping the bitter fruit of a nationalised industry."
"The only way in which long-term stability in the supply of power to the South Africans can be achieved is by the opening up this crucial industry," Jansen van Rensburg said.
Deputy President Ramaphosa is right: the power crisis is everyone' problem.
According to Jansen van Rensburg the ANC government now has the opportunity to liberate an industry that has already been nationalised long before 1994, from the heavy government burden that is resting upon it.
The question remains whether government is sincere and willing to implement policy changes that falls outside the ambit of their ideological beliefs.
Statement issued by Cornelius Jansen van Rensburg, CEO, AfriBusiness/AfriSake, January 21 2015
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