by Roger Lilley, Energize

Gwede Mantashe, South Africa's minister of energy seems to think that if Eskom were to be under his department's control, load shedding would be ended by Christmas. According to him, load shedding can be reduced "if we pay attention to it”.

But surely, if all that's needed is for attention to be paid to it, load shedding would have ended years ago. Load shedding has been "under the microscope" and people have been paying attention to it since 2008.

The matter was so much in focus - and of such a potential embarrassment to the ANC - that when Jacob Zuma was president of the country, he gave Eskom's management direct instructions to ensure that there would be no load shedding during the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was held in South Africa. 

Mantashe seems to have no concept at all as to the complexity of the situation.

The horrible truth is this: Having allowed the old electrical equipment to become so unreliable through neglected maintenance and having allowed the looting of Eskom to go on for so long, the root cause behind load shedding cannot be solved in the short term. 

Rather, it seems that Mantashe's becoming so embarrassed by the media focus on his department's failure to do its main job: i.e. to ensure that South Africa has sufficient reliable and affordable electricity to enable the economy to grow and support the ANC's National Development Plan, that he blames everyone else for the failure.

The minister of energy has the responsibility and authority to source additional energy to prevent load shedding. He has failed to do so.

Last year, the President announced an increase of licence-free private generation from 1 MW to 100 MW - something Mantashe should have done. One wonders what Mantashe's motives are because it seems that load shedding actually suits Mantashe, while the media attention on his department's failure does not.

Mantashe's statements are irresponsible, dishonest and self-destructive. We can't trust him anymore. 

We look forward to the day when South Africa has a new, young, well-educated energy minister who understands the global energy sector and what South Africa needs to do now to provide the power needed to support economic growth. For only economic growth can make the eradication of inequality, unemployment and poverty possible.