EDITORIAL | If Eskom isn’t fixed, SA will become a failed state

The Prince of Darkness, André de Ruyter, this week showed South Africans just how well his turnaround plan at Eskom is going by announcing that load-shedding will be with us for at least five more years.

It is not difficult to guess what the response in boardrooms and homes across the country was to that clanger. Undoubtedly, many words were used that cannot be mentioned here.

In his “state of the system” briefing on Monday, De Ruyter said the risk of load-shedding “will abate over time but not disappear” as Eskom pushes ahead with the mammoth job of maintenance at its spluttering, decrepit coal-fired power stations, which are on life support after decades of being ignored. Added to this are new power stations designed and built so shoddily under a corrupt leadership that they are constantly breaking down.

Rewind to January last year, when a fresh-faced De Ruyter, new in the job, announced that he expected maintenance — and the inevitable load-shedding that comes with it — to last for a further 18 months.

There was also an upbeat session a few months later, in which the utility spoke proudly of the short-term maintenance Eskom had been able to carry out during the early days of the lockdown, when many factories and other businesses were not operational.

But either the picture has changed drastically between then and now, or the battle-weary CEO has just given up sugar-coating the catastrophic situation that Eskom is in.

De Ruyter has a job you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

The picture painted this week was bleak, and the stark reality is that load-shedding will be part of SA’s DNA for the foreseeable future, further stunting SA’s already gut-wrenchingly dismal economic growth with every candlelit hour that passes.

Economic growth has not surpassed 2% for the past eight years, and this won't change until the country can guarantee an uninterrupted power supply.

De Ruyter has made enemies during his time at Eskom, and is now being investigated by the board regarding allegations of racism. His clashes with recently suspended chief procurement officer Solly Tshitangano are well documented.

It is important that the issues are fully investigated and addressed, so that the focus can return to getting SA’s most notorious SOE back on track.

It is a monumental task that at times seems unachievable. With R500bn in debt, a bloated staff protected by powerful unions, and more details coming out each day at the state capture commission regarding the depth of looting that occurred there over many years, De Ruyter has a job you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.

Besides the internal issues, he must also deal with problems beyond his control, like cable theft, which costs the utility about R50m a year.

SA is faced with many urgent issues that need priority, among them the vaccine rollout and funding tertiary education. However, in the long term, the Eskom crisis is possibly the most crucial. What good is studying if there is no job to be found once you’ve graduated? What use is ending the lockdown, if there are no jobs left to go to once it is lifted?

There will be no investment in SA until Eskom can guarantee it can keep the lights on.

Our leaders must accept this and put aside their affection for saving SAA and SABC until the country’s power supply is stable. If not, they are putting the cart before the horse, and the consequence will be a failed state.