If you pause for a minute to observe your surroundings as you go in search of a hot coffee and a wifi signal this morning to help soothe the stage 6 blues, you will notice the subtle but distinctive pall of gloom that hangs over SA.
It is a feeling we have all become accustomed to, even on a subconscious level, over the past few years.
With every higher stage of load-shedding, there is an equal but opposite drop in the mood of the nation. You can almost hear the economy contracting, small industries going out of business, suburban substations blowing up and our geriatric power grid wheezing under the strain, like the death rattle of a terminal patient waiting to expire.
But Tuesday’s move to stage 6 jolted us out of our daze and sparked a fresh round of outrage, this time with a new villain in our sights.
It is inconceivable that, with just one or two load-shedding stages standing between precarious stability and the complete collapse of SA’s economy, a small group of thugs felt it would be a good idea to hold the country to ransom in a bid to force Eskom’s hand to pay them bigger salary increases. This at a time when most in the private sector have not seen an increase in years and are just trying to hold on to their jobs.
But for some, the industrial action came as no surprise. SA unions take no prisoners and aim for maximum impact. They plan their action strategically and seek to cause as much mayhem and damage as possible.
On Tuesday night, public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan held a briefing that included a slide show of photos revealing the scale of destruction these criminals have unleashed on Eskom employees who chose not to join their illegal strike: homes petrol-bombed, windows smashed, vehicles set alight, electricity boxes tampered with, coal dumped in streets and tyres slashed. Roads to power stations have been blocked so trucks cannot deliver their precious cargo. Police, as usual, have been unable to control the situation.
This kind of intimidation is not new. We witnessed it during the lengthy Clover strike earlier this year in which two people died and the recent truckers’ strike, which was also characterised by intimidation and violence.
These strikes were dire, but the Eskom industrial action takes things to a new level because of the imminent threat it poses to the entire country. The stakes are so much higher.
As Gordhan tersely pointed out after announcing a wage deal had been reached with workers, a consistent electricity supply is essential to the economy, jobs and investment. SA’s reputation, or what is left of it, is at stake.
At one unnamed power station, which he declined to name, 90% of staff have not come to work over the past week.
Eskom workers are not responsible for the mess SA is in. Neither is its current management, who are faced with the Herculean task of returning Eskom to profitability. The real villains left Eskom years ago after looting its piggy bank. But the damage has been done and the only way out is to bite the bullet and try to claw back some semblance of functionality, step by tiny step.
The striking workers who gleefully put their personal entitlement over the welfare of the country are selfish and short-sighted.
They may have secured an extra percentage point or two on their increases, but in the long run they — along with the rest of SA — will pay a much higher price for their actions. They have contributed to the further shrinking of the economy, one in which their family members will struggle that much more to find employment.
Theirs is a hollow victory, and we hope they have sufficient understanding of the huge damage they have caused to return to work immediately and get the power back on before SA falls into complete darkness. But perhaps that would be giving them too much credit.
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