Keeping us in the dark

As a visitor to South Africa, as far as I am concerned, the last paragraph of ‘Rolling blackouts stall SA economy’ (The Mercury’s Business Report, 7 March) summed up the Eskom fiasco. It said: “Dames has a hard time trying to work independently from government.”

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Dames is the only member of the Eskom board to have spent time generating or distributing electrical power. The same was said of his predecessor Jacob Maroga. Government found both men controversial about plans for the future.

In 2009, the editor of Farmer’s Weekly wrote: “Eskom actually has the ability to cripple the country.”

I have the impression that if government had matched its aspirations for economic growth with the needs to achieve that growth, Eskom might not be dishing out excuses for the failure to supply electricity to the people.

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It seems that long before President Zuma took office, the ANC got their numbers terribly wrong. This mistake is now costing the country millions and crippling industry, commerce and Joe Public. I wonder who’ll pay for it at the ballot box?