PALI LEHOHLA | So much self-praise, so little fanfare for Eskom at the big 100

In Sesotho idioms are crucial to shaping behaviour. One such is “Ngoana khoale ‘na o ipolela motho o motle a boleloa ke batho” — “self-praise is no recommendation”. Idi Amin of Uganda once said of Tanzania’s Mwalimu Julius Nyerere on Radio Kampala: “If he were a woman, I would marry him,” and challenged Nyerere to a fight in the boxing ring. Amin was once the heavyweight champion of Uganda. Mwalimu had long dismissed Idi Amin as an incorrigible buffoon. In 1979 Nyerere’s army supported Ugandan rebels to topple the dictator. Another interesting gaffe was when Amin asked Mwalimu Nyerere to say some good things about him.

In the past fortnight or so, two books hogging the news were Prince Mashele’s on Herman Mashaba, The Outsider, and the other by Andre de Ruyter on himself, Truth to Power. The penchant for self-praise is palpable in the egos of Mashaba and De Ruyter. De Ruyter’s book flew off the shelves despite protestations by Jacques Pauw. Mashaba’s book on the other hand was taken off the shelves for violations that have left Mashele red-faced over the R12.5m loan paid to him by Mashaba for writing his book, whereby royalties would be deployed to pay for the book.

Jacques Pauw, the supposed would-be author of De Ruyter’s book, declined to write the book upon discovering untruths and untested statements in De Ruyter’s submission. But De Ruyter decided to do it himself, and the book has sold 50,000 copies and counting. But this build-up was quite unexpected because South Africa had been treated to a potpourri of titles in the hazy days of state capture.

Among the most quotable lines in De Ruyter’s book is: “Initially Eskom had a performance that was above the norm. It produced more power than its peers. Regrettably maintenance was neglected by my predecessors. The national regulator was also focused on the short term, and also told Eskom in effect not to do too much maintenance. Although it was true that the energy availability factor performed poorly under my watch, there were mitigating factors.” This line by De Ruyter resembles another upon his departure from Nampak: “Although it was true that Nampak share price had performed poorly under my watch, there were mitigating factors.”

During Jacob Zuma’s time as president there were books upon books on the capture of the state by private interests, notably the Guptas’. The titles aptly captured the moment. Lest our numbed taste buds forget, here is the curry to open them: The President’s Keepers: Those Keeping Zuma in Power and out of Prison; The Republic of Gupta — A story of State Capture; After Dawn: Hope After State Capture; Our Poisoned Land; The Unaccountables, and Days of Zondo; Deep Collusions; The Gangster State; and For My Country: Why I blew the whistle on Zuma and the Guptas.

One would have wished Eskom at a hundred should have received a major boost in the form of a book, projecting South Africa in the next hundred years. But what we got was De Ruyter projecting himself over us on a failed energy system he helped propel to destruction.

These titles are too revealing as South Africa gets into even deeper trouble. The record is priceless for posterity. When we presented The Indlulamithi Scenarios to the nation in 2018, President Cyril Ramaphosa graced the occasion and was the main recipient of the Indlulamithi Scenarios 2030 report. The scenarios had three possible outcomes, the Nayi le Walk scenario of inclusive democracy and development, the Isibujwa scenario of the status quo of have-nots against the haves, and a Gwara Gwara scenario of disorder. The response by the president to the scenarios has never left my mind. He asked, can you imagine a scenario worse than Gwara Gwara? When Indlulamithi reviewed the state of South Africa as of 2022, the team released a report that said South Africa had gone even deeper into Gwara Gwara territory. But that was not enough, and 2023 reminded me of an interview President Boris Yeltsin gave as he took power from President Mikhail Gorbachev. When asked to look into the crystal ball for the next year upon his assumption of office, Yeltsin said: “This year is definitely better than next year.” As the self-manufactured energy crisis drags us even deeper into a Gwara Gwara scenario, you are bound to ask what Ramaphosa knew in 2018 that prompted him to repeat almost verbatim what Yeltsin had said about the future. We are here now and South Africa, alive with possibilities, has seen a book release by the former CEO of Eskom. De Ruyter’s book reads like a sad obituary of Eskom.

However, the two books on Mashaba and De Ruyter reveal important tendencies by the audience. First, despite Pauw’s protestations, De Ruyter’s book flew off the shelves by public demand, but Mashaba’s was removed for violating the publisher’s rights. Pauw’s protestations caught very little attention and probably made for good publicity as De Ruyter’s truths, half-truths and non-truths made sales. Jacques Pauw’s the President’s Keepers, which faced fierce opposition and a possible court interdict, did not fly off the shelves like that of Eskom’s crooner.

One would have wished Eskom at a hundred should have received a major boost in the form of a book, projecting South Africa in the next hundred years. But what we got was De Ruyter projecting himself over us on a failed energy system he helped propel to destruction. The obfuscation of the facts that count the most in the life of Eskom and that of the nation do not support De Ruyter’s claims of non-maintenance of the fleet by his predecessors nor age as a factor for power stations’ failure. Where De Ruyter is correct, and in this regard his story corresponds with that of Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe, is on political interference in the operations of Eskom. This assertion is repeated and accepted publicly by the likes of Mondli Gungubele in a well-documented submission. De Ruyter is also correct on the powers of the sabotage machinery. That is obviously expected given the vested interests of new and old in Eskom. Perhaps the sum total of our troubles especially when it comes to power starts with power; power as energy and power as politics. The collision of these two forces caused an explosion and loss of power to the nation, but the trigger seems to have been what Idi Amin had asked of Nyerere — to say a few good things about him.

Dr Pali Lehohla is the director of the Economic Modelling Academy, a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg, a Research Associate at Oxford University, a board member of Institute for Economic Justice at Wits and a distinguished Alumni of the University of Ghana. He is the former Statistician-General of South Africa.

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