Founder: Turnaround Talk
One of the essential truths about human nature is that it is exceptionally hard for humans to accept blame or failure when something goes wrong. Even when people put their hands up and accept fault, it is often followed by a proverbial but or a however. “I accept that my actions were wrong and damaged the company. But/however…”
We are seeing an interesting game of chess currently being played out in political circles.
At the heart of the game is the fact that we have a worsening energy crisis that will lead to economic losses. The South African Reserve Bank predicted last year that when South Africa faces Stage 6 power cuts, the country loses an estimated R900-million/day. The ANC accepts this and doesn’t have a short-term plan to resolve loadshedding.
This will be a significant hurdle they will have to overcome in the 2024 General Elections. The ANC is in the process of making its opening gambit, laying the blame at the doorstep of Former Eskom CEO Andre de Ruyter, saying that he is trying to tarnish its image ahead of the elections. In response, opposition parties are preparing their gambit to cast increased scrutiny on the Electricity Minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa.
Who will the blame for the country’s economic losses fall on when the game is in check mate?
De Ruyter’s tarnishing campaign
The News24 article points out that the ANC has suggested that former Eskom CEO André de Ruyter wanted to tarnish the governing party’s image going into the national elections by making allegations that senior politicians in the party are involved in corruption at Eskom.
This is according to a statement the party released on Wednesday after De Ruyter appeared before the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa), where MPs tried unsuccessfully to get him to reveal the names of the “senior politicians” he alleged in a TV interview were behind the maladministration, sabotage, and cartels at Eskom.
The article adds that, in the statement, the ANC questioned what motivated De Ruyter to make such claims about the party.
“It is curious why a chief executive officer of a state-owned enterprise would go out of their way to affirm reports which are not grounded in an iota of evidence.
“This being the same André de Ruyter who accused the ANC of being out of touch with reality and instead stuck in a Cold War era, is now found to be closely associating himself with dubious apartheid-era agents that consciously supported a brutal system and have blood [on] their hands,” reads the statement.
The News24 article points out that the “dubious apartheid-era agents” the ANC referred to stems from a News24 expose on Wednesday that the “evidence” De Ruyter used to implicate top ANC Cabinet members in corruption at Eskom was nothing but wild and untested allegations that came from a shadowy intelligence operative implicated in apartheid-era crimes.
Image By: Eskom
News24 reported that the so-called Eskom “intelligence” files or reports made famous by De Ruyter in the TV interview were concocted by Tony Oosthuizen, a key member of an apartheid-era secret Military Intelligence unit, and are effectively worthless.
“The ANC will not be distracted by underhanded tactics aimed at diverting us from a determined drive to renew our organisation and encourage South Africans to continue voting for their movement in favour of safeguarding the drive towards a national democratic society,” reads the statement.
The article added that the ANC pointed out that several polls showed that the ANC stood a chance of winning the elections by over 50% in the national general elections.
“The likes of De Ruyter are obviously disturbed by such data to the point of soiling what otherwise could have been a clean reputation premised on his other positive contribution at Eskom.”
No power, no budget, no oversight
Another News24 article points out that a parliamentary committee will not oversee Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as his ministry won’t have its own budget, the National Assembly Rules Committee has decided.
“The minister does not have a specific budget but draws from the budget of Vote 1 – the Presidency. The minister’s responsibilities form a dedicated programme which is located in the Presidency. The minister does not have a dedicated department and is supported by staff in the Presidency and outside thereof,” read a presentation by Secretary to the National Assembly Masibulele Xaso.
The article points out that ANC MP Qubudile Dyantyi suggested that a committee shouldn’t oversee the Ministry of Electricity as it didn’t have its own budget. This was supported by ANC MPs Mina Lesoma and Doris Dlakude, the latter also being the governing party’s deputy chief whip.
Image By: Eskom
The Presidency also has no committee oversight.
The article adds that the ANC delegation on the subcommittee that reports to the rules committee was last week insistent on kicking the can down the road, instead of deciding whether a committee should be established to oversee the Presidency.
National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula appeared unaware that the Ministry of Electricity was situated in the Presidency.
“For now, there isn’t anywhere a suggestion that the Ministry of Electricity will receive resources from the Presidency. I don’t recall that. My understanding is that the Ministry of Electricity will be working with minerals and will also be working with the Ministry of Public Enterprises.
“And therefore, it shouldn’t make sense at all that the Ministry of Energy falls under Vote 1, because Vote 1 is the Presidency. And at this point in time, my understanding is that it does not fall under the Presidency. Can somebody assist me there if I am wrong?” she said.
The article points out that ANC MP Hope Papo came to her assistance. He said there was a national crisis committee on electricity in the Presidency. Clearing things up for Mapisa-Nqakula, he said this team was “backing up” the work of the Minister of Electricity.
The rules committee supported the establishment of a committee to oversee the Minister of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, also situated in the Presidency.
The article adds that Discussions between legal teams from the Presidency, the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and the Department of Public Enterprises were still ironing out which powers should be delegated to Ramokgopa, ANC economic transformation subcommittee chairperson Mmamoloko Kubayi said.
This will at least resolve a concern that Eskom will now have a third minister looking into its affairs. Opposition parties are already quick to point out that there is significant friction between Public Enterprises Minister, Pravin Gordhan, and Minerals and Energy Minister, Gwede Mantashe, who both have a significant say in Eskom’s affairs.
So then, what is the point of creating a whole department with a minister (that no doubt collects a sizable salary) if the ministry doesn’t have budget or oversight? I’m sure opposition parties will raise this in the months to come.
Castling the King
Castling is an important move in chess which essentially protects the King from attacks.
Have the various ANC Ministers, who have been voicing the tarnishing rhetoric for some time now, done enough to protect the ANC? It is true that the Energy Crisis may be the Sword of Damocles that former Finance Minister , Tito Mboweni, spoke about in 2020, however, it is not the only blemish on the ANC report card. The Thabo Bester prison break and the Phala Phala scandals are significant enough in their own right to significantly damage the ANC come 2024.
But this website is focused on balance sheets. When South Africa loses economic growth due to loadshedding, who will that blame fall to? The smart money is on De Ruyter who is shaping up to be the sacrificial lamb in this situation. But as the great Bob Marley once said: you can fool some people some time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time. Eventually, even the staunchest ANC loyalist will draw a line in the sand and refuse to purchase what the ruling party is selling to them.
