Police and intelligence officers are to be deployed to Eskom power facilities across the country as the government moves to urgently implement a rescue plan for the power utility and keep SA's lights on.
The multipronged emergency plan includes preventing any possible sabotage to the electricity supply by those linked to state capture.
Following the failure of seven generating units that caused nationwide blackouts this week, suspicion is mounting that the power crisis was deliberately created to undermine President Cyril Ramaphosa's plans to change Eskom's structure and business model and to root out corrupt networks.
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The presidency and ministry of public enterprises are pulling together the mining industry, engineering sector and unions to foster agreement on an integrated strategy to prevent further power cuts, manage supply shortages and stabilise the utility. SA's top engineers are volunteering their services, and experts from Italy are also donating their time and skills to the emergency effort.
At the same time, security agencies are being roped in to the emergency response to detect any malicious attacks and protect power stations from sabotage.
A senior government source said they were detecting a "well-infiltrated, well-organised and well-resourced fightback" against the Ramaphosa administration "with antennae that reach all over".
Another government official dealing with the electricity crisis said they needed to ensure "proper security at plants". He said Eskom facilities should be treated as national key points to protect infrastructure from deliberate damage and sabotage.
ANC presidency spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said that after being briefed on the power crisis, the party believes SA is faced with "a threat to national security".
Though Ramaphosa downplayed claims that the surprise spate of load-shedding, which shot up to an unprecedented stage 4 on Monday, was an attempt to undermine his plans, he conceded it could be the work of "remnants of state capture".
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Ramaphosa said: "It could well be that there are remnants of state capture at Eskom. [But] we are more empowered to investigate and to follow up and ensure accountability."
Despite strong criticism from trade unions after his unbundling announcement, Ramaphosa has stood firm, saying a lasting solution had to be found to the power utility's woes to avoid economic collapse as a result of "putting all our eggs in one basket".
The president said inherent weaknesses related to poor maintenance, faulty designs of power stations, insufficient engineers and an aged fleet of power stations were also to blame for this week's damaging and unexpected load-shedding.
Ramaphosa said he was ready to have a "real heart-to-heart discussion" with labour to get on the same page. But he was adamant that inputs made during the upcoming talks must be "solution orientated".
He said he would assure labour that Eskom would not be privatised.
He announced on Thursday that the ministers of police and state security would be part of a special cabinet committee on the power crisis "to be seized with the matter of Eskom on a daily basis and provide me with reports daily on what actions need to be taken to secure energy supply".
Finance minister Tito Mboweni will announce the financial rescue plan for Eskom in his budget speech on Wednesday.
Public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan told the Sunday Times yesterday that he held an emergency meeting with the Minerals Council SA and CEOs of coal mining companies on Friday afternoon to address the issues with Eskom's coal supply.
He said he also met with the Engineering Council of SA to draw in expertise from across engineering disciplines to deal with Eskom's operational problems.
"Our response is on various fronts. We have to deal with problems with the coal supply, which was what was discussed with the mining CEOs, as well as the skills, capacity and operational problems. We had a phenomenal response from the engineering fraternity. We also have to reposition the finances to deal with R490bn in debt and develop a new business model. We must also strive to ensure greater transparency," said Gordhan.
He said a team of South African engineering experts would do a full analysis of Eskom's operations and draw in international expertise to properly diagnose the cause of the problems and assist internal engineers with maintenance and managing the supply.
South African Institute of Electrical Engineers CEO Sicelo Xulu said yesterday that after the meeting with Gordhan, the engineering industry was putting together a team across engineering disciplines to arrest load-shedding and deal with capacity problems. He said they would rope in experts, including retired engineers, to work with Eskom engineers.
"On the financial situation, we know diesel is being burnt on a daily basis. We need to arrest the bleeding and consider how to use old, refurbished and out-of-service plans. We need to generate additional capacity to alleviate the pressure," Xulu said.
He said the engineers were providing their services voluntarily.
"This is a national crisis and we need to roll up our sleeves."
Top engineers from Italian energy company Enel were also offering their services free of charge.
Minerals Council senior executive Tebello Chabana said their meeting with Gordhan and mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe on Friday focused on procurement, pricing, the handling and transportation of coal, and the issues regarding quality control.
"The minister wanted to understand the dynamics and the nature of business interaction between Eskom and the mining industry and wanted to determine how the parties could work together to address the issues on all sides," said Chabana.
Gordhan said there would be meetings with recognised unions tomorrow and on Tuesday to map the way forward.
He said there was a lot of "goodwill" following this week's crisis.
"People have to change mindsets, think about the national interest, help us to expose wrongdoings in the institutions, and stand up for what is right to get Eskom on its feet again. Every patriotic South African must come to the fore and defend their national asset," said Gordhan.
Irvin Jim, general secretary of metalworkers' union Numsa, said they did not believe unbundling was the answer to the Eskom crisis. He said the holes draining the utility's resources had to be plugged.
"The cost of primary coal is very expensive and the IPPs [independent power producers] are basically destroying Eskom. The bloated executive, which grew from 80 to 600, is another problem," said Jim.
He said though the unions agreed there should be a move from fossil fuels to renewables, this had to be done through a managed and consultative process. He confirmed that the union had been invited to an emergency meeting on the Eskom crisis on Tuesday.
Jim denied that his members were involved in any form of sabotage. He said his union was, however, suspicious that there was sabotage taking place to justify the unbundling.
The National Union of Mineworkers said this week that its members are not happy with the decision to unbundle Eskom and it therefore cannot guarantee their support for the ANC in the May elections.
Kodwa said the ANC was concerned that the disruption of the electricity supply was to "generate a social revolt".
"We see this as economic sabotage and undermining the drive to boost investments. There is a group of people who have been using the utility as a cash cow for the longest time. It does not take a rocket scientist to work out that when their tap is closed, they will use unlawful and irregular methods to undermine the president's plans," said Kodwa.
There were also concerns about incorrect information being given to Eskom management by middle managers. He said it was unacceptable that the senior management and board, as well as Ramaphosa and Gordhan, were caught off-guard by the power cuts last Sunday.
"The president has sleepless nights about Eskom but he is working on a workable solution to the crisis," said Kodwa.
Roberta Vivenzio, spokesperson for Italian energy company Enel, which operates wind-power plants in SA, confirmed they were assessing possible co-operation with the department of public enterprises "to provide technical support to Eskom to help it stabilise and optimise some of its thermal assets".
"The scope of support required and how Enel may be of assistance is still under definition. Technical know-how exchange and support is common practice among power utilities," she said. - Additional reporting by Graeme Hosken..