Editorial
Johannesburg - There have been ructions and revelations aplenty at beleaguered power utility Eskom this week, leading to the prompt and unceremonious dumping of chief executive Andre de Ruyter during his notice period after his incendiary interview to eNCA.
Eskom chief financial officer Calib Cassim has been appointed as interim CEO but the government has yet to appoint the Minister of Electricity that President Cyril Ramaphosa announced during his recent State of the Nation address. Instead the nation seems to have settled into the new normal of load shedding that oscillates between Level 4 and Level 6.
It is easy to become despondent and give up hope. But many South Africans are refusing to do so, instead finding their own solutions to the crisis, like finding the funds to install solar power to literally empower themselves. The problem is that thieves and robbers have started stealing these solar panels.
It is a situation that is beyond ludicrous and deeply worrying. The state is effectively failing these new crime victims twice; first failing to deliver electricity and then failing to protect them when they try to solve the problem themselves.
The obvious conclusion those victims will draw is that there is no point to the state, except as a further unwanted burden on the lives of honest citizens doing their best to survive – and thrive – in this South Africa of ours. It is a damning indictment but one that is hard to argue against, despite the hundreds of millions added to the police budget this week and the thousands of new officers under training.
The president and his cabinet have to act, because if they do not, South Africans will do whatever they can to survive – and nobody wants to see this leading to extreme action.
None of us can afford that.