Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.
Acts of sabotage and years of corruption were the reasons given by public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan to the ANC national executive committee (NEC) on Monday for the latest round of power cuts to hit the country.
Eskom confirmed on Sunday that stages four, five and six rotational blackouts would take place on Monday and Tuesday, with the stages for Wednesday to Friday being dependent on the return of generating units to service.
According to insiders who attended the NEC meeting, Gordhan told members what he had told the public — that the strike action by Eskom employees as well as delays in maintenance had led to stage six blackouts.
In late June, Eskom announced that a wage deadlock between the power utility and employees led to unprotected industrial action that plunged the country into stage six load-shedding, last experienced in December 2019.
The strike was accompanied by acts of sabotage and intimidation, with scores of employees unable to attend work.
While Gordhan had said that agreements were reached on the wage negotiations, unions denied this, saying talks were ongoing.
Sources who attended the NEC meeting said a call was made for Eskom to urgently be moved to Gwede Mantashe’s minerals and resources department. The Mail & Guardian was further told that Mantashe emphasised he would not take the blame for the challenges faced by the entity.
The sources said the NEC was underwhelmed by Gordhan’s presentation on the crisis after he had delayed speaking to the ANC on the matter.
Gordhan was expected to make his presentation to the national working committee on Friday, but had asked for more time, the insiders said.
He was subsequently expected to make his presentation on Sunday, but then said he would only be available on Monday.
“It speaks to his arrogance. The man simply does not answer to anyone. We had to resume the NEC at 11am on Monday because he was not ready,” one insider said.
The NEC is also said to have discussed the addition of executive capacity at Eskom to assist chief executive André de Ruyter and his team manage the blackouts.
Another suggestion was that Eskom must deliver short- to medium-term plans to extract the country from the crisis.
In his political report, President Cyril Ramaphosa allegedly said “interventions” were being made to improve the functioning of the embattled entity.
“There was no decision reached. We only discussed this disaster and there was no decision taken. We wanted to know why, when black people participate in the coal industry, there is talk of a coal mafia … The only agreement that was made was that this is a disaster and we don’t have a concrete plan yet to get out of it,” one insider said.
The NEC is expected to head to a retreat this weekend where the power crisis will be further ventilated.
Meanwhile, Home Affairs Minister Aaron Motsoaledi was lauded for his work when the peace and stability committee made its presentations.
The sources said that while former president Thabo Mbeki cautioned that the issue of immigration should be treated with sensitivity so as not to alienate the continent, NEC members were in agreement that immigration was a serious challenge that needed to be addressed.
“Immigration came out sharply. There were those who said we may talk about policy, but the country is facing a serious challenge of foreign nationals creating havoc.”
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