LISTEN | Blame can't be laid at Eskom's doorstep only when it was political agenda that got us here

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“The current Eskom — working as best as it can — isn't even managing to improve the standard of the existing machines,” says associate at the Electricity Systems Research Group of UCT Hilton Trollip. 

Worsening power cuts forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut short his overseas tour to deal with troubles at home. However, this raised questions about what the presidency's role is in bringing about an end to load-shedding.

Ramaphosa made the decision to return after “an urgent virtual meeting with all the relevant ministers and officials”, his spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said on Sunday.

In the first instalment of SA Energy Explained, Trollip explains that corruption and mismanagement are primarily responsible for the dilapidated state of Eskom's power fleet. He contends the government and the presidency cannot palm off the blame for SA's current crisis on Eskom.  

Is the president's availability on home soil an act of solidarity or critical to bringing an end to the crisis? Who should be working on restoring normality to the grid, and what does political posturing and corruption around the energy crisis do towards bringing the problem to a speedy conclusion? Trollip addresses all these questions and more. 

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