Laugh it Off

My mother-in-law reported that her meter box can no longer take the Eskom coupons. She was given references for the meter to be replaced but we still haven’t had anyone from Eskom come help us. Imagine a pensioner who is looking after a disable person in darkness for a whole week now.

~ Mrs Komane, Gugs

We all have our Eskom stories. If you’re really lucky, maybe it involves getting stuck in a lift with a stranger for hours during ‘load shedding’, and then falling in love. More likely is that you have a tale of woe, like Mrs Komane’s, who is just one of millions of South Africans unsatisfied with Eskom’s service delivery. We are all in the dark when it comes to Eskom’s new CEO Jacob Maroga big plans, so let’s look at the bigger picture to see if there are any bright sparks working to solve our ‘small’ problems.

Eskom is the largest producer of electricity in Africa. It’s Kendal Power Station, near Witbank, is the largest coal-fired power station in the world. Koeberg – a little too close to home for my liking, on the West Coast near Melkbosstrand – is the only nuclear power plant in Africa. Supposedly, Eskom’s scientists are industry leaders in terms of nuclear energy. So, the first point is that as the biggest and ‘best’ providers of energy, they should be ahead of their game. Like the top clubs in the English premier League, they should be able to afford the best players and adapt to change quicker than the competition. Trouble is, there is no competition.

Over ten years ago the government squashed Eskom’s attempts at privatization, while at the same time denying them budget to build bigger plants. Last year in December, when we were dealing with problems caused by loose bolts in generators and feeling the effects of ‘loadshedding’, then President Thabo Mbeki admitted that this had been a mistake that was affecting our economy. Like his dealing with HIV/Aids, it was too little, too late.

So where are we now? South Africa’s economy relies heavily on precious metal exports, and with mines having closed due to restricted electricity usage, foreign investors have caught a wake up and are looking elsewhere to spend their overseas bucks. As a result our foreign currency credit rating was recently downgraded to the second-lowest investment grade in the world. The global economic meltdown has also blown Eskom’s expansion budget sky-high: it is expected to grow to more than R1-trillion by 2026! So who ends up bailing out Eskom? Anglo American, the worldwide mining conglomerate that made all their bucks out of our mines during apartheid, has signed a memorandum of understanding with government, guaranteeing SA’s power supply. So it’s the same old cronies running the show today as it was in 1923 when Eskom first started. We, the taxpayer, are the ones who will pay most, as government is planning to increase our rates in the near future.

So what about our future then, near or far? While Eskom’s idea of energy-saving remains replacing lightbulbs, and begging businesses and homes to cut down on their energy spending, what forward thinking is being done elsewhere to ensure that our kids aren’t left with a legacy of bad debt, and a landscape of smoggy air and power lines?

Good old SABS, the South African Bureau of Standards, has been working to improve the quality of the energy efficiency of our electric appliances, so that our fridges don’t blow the fusebox. In parliament they have even started discussing the use of electrically powered vehicles in this country. But there are still no solid plans in place for renewable, alternative energy such as wind, solar, and waves.

You’d think that especially with the Cape Doctor blowing as it does, at least a few wind turbines in the Mother City to power our discharged local politicians would be a good idea. Solar water heaters being subsidized by government and installed in low-income housing, and tax deductions for businesses that install energy efficient machines are two other good ideas.

But good ideas are like assholes. Everybody has one. As Capetonians we need our local government to think less, and do more. Having Africa’s only nuclear power plant in our backyard is not something to be proud of. It should make us all very scared. If a loose bolt can make our city powerless, imagine what an accident with radioactive waste could do? While we’re busy exploring alternative energy options, our Mayor of the World, Helen Zille, should make Koeberg voetsek before Cape Town becomes the next Chernobyl