Challenge to Eskom’s monopoly shows how South Africans can take control to fix government’s failures – IRR

28 January 2021

The recently stated intention of Stellenbosch Municipality to become South Africa’s first municipality to “not experience load-shedding” is a step in the right direction and shows how practical policies, such as the IRR’s Eskom Recovery Plan, can empower South Africans to save our country from the ANC’s failures.

Eskom’s suffocating grip on power production and distribution has failed to provide the sustainable and consistent power supply our homes and businesses depend on. This has placed a stifling cap on economic growth prospects and the socio-economic progress South Africans desperately need. For far too long, Eskom has been part of the problem, not the solution.

The reasons for Eskom’s embarrassing collapse are no secret.

The ANC’s dependence on its corrupt patronage networks has seen it parachuting unqualified cadres of the governing party into positions that require competence and expertise. Race-based policies such as BEE, better described as ‘Blatant Elite Enrichment’, have led to the loss of skilled Eskom employees, simply because of the ANC’s insistence on clinging to apartheid-era racial classifications. As a consequence of government failures, Eskom is, for all intents and purposes, bankrupt. This bankruptcy in turn compels taxpayers time and time again to foot the bailout bills for the ANC’s failures.

Eskom’s monopoly should now, finally, be brought to an end – it has failed South Africa.

Said Hermann Pretorius, IRR Head of Strategic Initiatives: “Government can no longer ignore the reality that it is time to give #PowerToThePeople by implementing drastic reform policies such as the IRR’s Eskom Recovery Plan. Open the energy market to competitors, and end the absurdity of a power generation facility being used as the playground of politicians indulging in their racist, corrupt, ideological agendas.

“President Ramaphosa has been responsible for Eskom since at least 2014, when he was appointed as Jacob Zuma’s deputy to head an alleged turnaround team. There is no getting away from the fact that Eskom is failing because the ANC and President Ramaphosa have failed. Enough is enough. Take power from government and give #PowerToThePeople – only then can we unleash the socio-economic potential of our country.”

The IRR’s petition to give #PowerToThePeople can be accessed here.

Issue by Hermann Pretorius, IRR Head of Strategic Initiatives, 28 January 2021