Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency (ANA) Picture: Itumeleng English/African News Agency (ANA)
OPINION - Load shedding does untold damage and adds to the economic quagmire we find ourselves in. It causes people to lose jobs, forces businesses to close, chases away tourists and makes life unbearable for citizens.
It’s a curse that’s man made and every time there’s load shedding people blame the government. And quite rightly so.
Eskom is a state-owned enterprise that has been exposed as being one of the most mismanaged entities in the country.
We heard how billions were lost through poor decisions and corrupt dealings. All of these point to the fact that those in power had no clue what they were doing.
It’s laughable that Eskom posts a surplus in its last financial report when just last year it was in the red for about R50 billion. It continues to exist because of bailouts from government.
Would Eskom qualify for a loan from the bank if it were a private company? Who would want to invest in a company where people are employed for all the wrong reasons and it is unable to make profits even while having the monopoly in the power sector?
If I were government, I’d ensure that only the most qualified and experienced people are employed at Eskom, which is responsible for powering up the entire country. Almost every South African relies on the power utility to survive.
If it fails then the government has failed. There is no excuse. The government is the cause of our load-shedding woes. In most other countries they would have resigned by now.
The biggest challenge we have is that we citizens are being taken for a ride because we don’t hold this government to account. We continue electing them into office.
I have a small business that employs 10 people. It’s been a difficult year for us, like most others, and we look forward to the expected boom during the festive season.
In the past this period would be the only profit we see in the year. Now we use the expected profits to pay arrears and loans. What does the government do? They hit us with load shedding at this critical time.
VISVIN REDDY I Activists Movement of SA (AMSA)