'What nonsense is this?': Shivambu slams Mabuza for saying Eskom won’t be privatised

EFF deputy leader Floyd Shivambu has joined the chorus of reaction to Deputy President David Mabuza saying the government has no intention of privatising Eskom. 

On Thursday, during a question-and-answer session of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), Mabuza said despite the country’s ongoing load-shedding and energy supply woes this was not the case. 

“I want to assure the honourable House there is no intention by the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa to privatise the generation of energy. 

“I’m sure some people in our society are very sceptical that finally we want to hand over this utility to private hands. That will never happen. The president has assured us many a time,” the deputy president said.

Mabuza said Eskom was now being unbundled into three separate entities — generation, transmission and distribution — as part of its turnaround.

He pleaded for the entity to be given time and space to conduct investigations and compile a report on the explosion at Medupi, which resulted in work being suspended. 

“It is anticipated that the affected unit is likely to be offline for a considerable time. That is why an investigation team comprising Eskom, experts and the original equipment manufacturer has been appointed to determine the cause and full extent of the damage,” said Mabuza. 

Weighing in on his statement, Shivambu suggested it was “nonsense”. 

“What nonsense is this? Are you that foolish and that blind, Mr Mabuza?” he asked. 

“Independent power producers and power purchase agreements imposed and force-fed to Eskom's transmission are de facto privatisation of energy generation. How are you in that office if can’t understand this?” he said.

On social media, many said Eskom should be privatised to make it efficient and productive.  

Here is a snapshot of what people had to say: