Eskom blames apartheid for all its problems

Eskom has lashed out at critics, saying that the power provider’s continued failings are an ongoing symptom of the apartheid government.

In an official statement released in The Star (9 March), Eskom spokesperson Khulani Qoma specifically targeted a Business Report letter by energy commentator Roger Toms, noting that, like his fellow critics, he offered nothing of “substance but a disguised eulogy for the evil system of apartheid”.

“Eskom’s current challenges are the direct consequence of the ineptitude of Toms’ venerated apartheid state. Energy planning had been earmarked for whites only, as blacks had systematically been excluded,” said Qoma.

“The current board is cleaning up this very toxic mess. It would be interesting to see how many letters Toms pushed in the 1980s complaining about the lack of a just energy policy that left the black majority in darkness and issues of incompetent planning that resulted in over-capacity leading to some of Eskom’s power stations being mothballed.”

Qoma further defended current Eskom chaiperson Dr Ben Ngubane, who he noted had not been not been found to have acted irregularly or corruptly by any competent authority,

He also noted that the utility would not allow 2016’s State of Capture report to influence its internal policies as it was “admittedly inconclusive and therefore any responsible person would not use the contents thereof as though they were conclusive.”

 Read: South Africa is going to court to stop itself from going bankrupt