Rama pressured no one into anything, he could have stood up and cut Mantashe off by the knees, yet not a sniffle from Rama on that.
De Ruyter was thrown under the bus because of what he said in and around the real things going on in Eskom, Matashe fingered multiple times, then Matashe lashed out at De Ruyter with total silence from all and sundry. Even Gordhan was a day late to say something … and where was Rama? Who is Rama?
Mantashe got what he wanted … Eskom
King Coal, the King Maker, and the Union members got job security extensions in Eskom/in the coal mines/trucking around coal, which all would have been looked at when Eskom was split up under De Ruyter, more renewables taking over.
Yes. What astounds me is the “silence” of all political parties outside the ANC, SARS, Reserve Bank, All the Banks, and Large Corporations.
The collective power they all wield over the Gov ito taxes, nary a collective harsh word. Here and there a teeny bit of PC admonishment.
The Long Play is for Mantashe to fail … as Rama said, he highly regards anyone who will take the job of Eskom CEO … that reads like he is washing his hands on Eskom. Expect a lot of platitudes from Rama going forward, appearing as if he is “supporting” Mantashe.
Aah I see where you are coming from. It was the “sin of neglect”, doing wrong by NOT doing what you should be doing. By not defending De Ruyter, he implicitly chose Mantashe over De Ruyter. I get it.
Allow me to reference an ancient religious book. You know the commandment that says that you should not commit false witness against a neighbour? We again get back to what culture brings to the table, because whether you still subscribe to this worldview matters little, it is part and parcel of the culture The West inherited. Martin Luther said that this commandment goes further than not saying false things about another. He said it also behooves you to defend a man when someone else says false things about him.
A further extension to that heritage also maintains that “your neighbour” is not merely people you like. You should hate the lie enough to defend your enemy, when he is on the wrong end of it.
When Mantashe accused Eskom of “agitating to overthrow the state”… who stood up to defend them? Mmmh?
This, all of this, is me thinks a smoke screen for what really happens in the background. The CancER needs money for electioneering. This keep the focus and everybody’s incredulous reactions on DeRuyter and Mantashie and the change to a new Dept, and away from the real target, monies…
No smoke screen … it is all about money, paying for votes. Every single move they make.
As I said …
Looking past the “money money money”, see the picture of where it leads, how they are setting themselves up for a massive fall.
These latest moves of the ANC … Rama as Pressi at all costs … there is a cost involved and SA is paying it. There is a limit to how much money is around, read there is none left.
Bigger than that, there is a limit to any nation’s tolerance for corruption, blatant political abuse of power, no matter who you vote/voted for.
When job losses surge going forward, Level 6 I see now for evenings, voters are going to turn to the ANC and demand solutions … and there is none left for them to offer their voters.
We are past the “it is all about money”. We all know that. Where this leads is the real question.
How far do we still have to fall before the shiite really hits the fan for the ANC … that is the question today.
Mantashe in charge of Eskom … brilliant move IF that was Rama’s idea all along.
Who you gonna call Mantashe, when the stations start failing mmm? Who you gonna call Mantash?
If it is, it’s a pretty bad attempt, I mean if I was the ANC the last thing I would want is my name associated with Eskom, To the ANC Eskom is a eyesore.
If the ANC has a “marketing” department they would know to stay well clear of it and rather go to other seemingly “unrelated” issues like inflation etc.
We must not forget, the Gov is the sole shareholder of Eskom.
The coal industry employs a lot of voters …
Eskom employs a lot of voters …
Everything in and around Eskom, as the rest of the SOEs are gutted, the last “trough to drink at” … read pay the voters.
I agree with you here. The idea that government is using Eskom as some sort of side show to detract us from something else. Eskom is an issue significant enough to lose an election. The ANC has enough money troubles as it is. I don’t buy it…
Remember in the 90s, when an American president was almost impeached for having extra-marital relations? Or even more recently, when some information about locker-room-talk came up for another president? In this country, a president slept with a much younger woman, who was HIV positive, then took a shower, and then admitted that to the public… and nothing happened to him.
Our measure of what is “bad” is pretty high. Whatever is worse than Eskom, in such a way that Eskom can detract from it? I cannot even imagine…
If the ANC had the means of blaming someone else, they probably would have.
Ya missing the point, Eskom got money, they can divert more money there. It’s the richest pickings amongst the SoE’s. It’s still all about the money.
All the theft and sabotage leads to Eskom paying contractors or Syndicates stealing stuff and selling it. They all eventually funnel back to elections in some way or another, it’s just one big enterprise.
What you don’t seem to see is that there is now a time limit on the ANC. We know there is NO money and NO time left to fix anything on the scale it needs to be fixed.
All that is left in Eskom is for pillaging, nothing more. A last desperate move by the ANC to “buy” power.
When more stations shut down, irreparable/forced closure, that station’s gravy train stops. That energy expert a few months back said exactly that … the gravy train is so entrenched it needs to continue until it starves a “natural death” i.e. no more Eskom funds.
The only alternative left to that is how long before SA gets really fed up with the LS, read ANC?
That’s seriously playing the “short game” there. But then, I guess you eventually end up in a place where that is all that is left to you.
Also see Zimbabwean land reform. When it came to the crunch, 1) deny election result (April 2008), 2) Run-off election with a huge amount of violence and intimidation, 3) MDC wins with more seats, but ZANU-PF gets popular vote, 4) form government of “national unity”, 5) throw your farmers under the bus.
If Eskom hits level 6 consistently, then even Cpt is fooked.
Cpt needs more time to get the private enterprises to take over the electricity supply, 18 months I seem to recall, so that is ± mid-2024 at the earliest IF there are nothing holding up the processes, no red tape, no NERSA/Mantashe interfering.
With Koeberg Unit 1 being off … timing could not have been worse for Cpt.
And if Koeberg does not get an extension … ag nou ja.
Told my family last night … please keep a careful watch at your offices. 2022 was bad, did it affect business? If so, be wary of closures due to excessive LS in 2023.
Already there. Higher areas in Somerset West has no water today. There was a problem earlier, which delayed the pumping of water, and then load-shedding went up a stage, delaying it even futher.
Lower down in Strand and Gordon’s bay, sewage is flowing into the sea… inadequate time to pump sewage. Etc etc…
I will only let ESKOM connect to my secure solar supply if they install the appropriate meter ( at their expense) and they demonstrate that they have approved generators, with the appropriate sign-offs by competent people.
Even then, ESKOM mustn’t think I will pay them the same price/kWh when they export to me as when they import from me.
No, siree, I will only pay them a fraction of what I charge them.
(That’s the price to connect to a secure supply these days and they might as well get used to it).
