Karima Brown
22 April 2008
Johannesburg — THE government and the African National Congress (ANC) agreed yesterday to set up a joint task team to prepare for an urgent energy summit to address the electricity crisis.
This follows a special meeting of the ANC national working committee attended by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin and Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica.
Yesterday's gathering was the second time that the ANC's top brass asked cabinet ministers to provide the party with more details on how it planned to deal with the electricity challenges. "We have to talk, and seek consensus on the matter. We have to find each other," said ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe said.
He would not be drawn on who will serve on the task team, but it is understood that the ruling party and the government will each nominate three people to serve on the task team.
Erwin and Mantashe will be included in the group.
The ANC has placed on record its unhappiness about the government's backing of power utility Eskom's proposed 53% tariff hike.
Eskom has warned that it could suffer a loss of up to R10bn this financial year if the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) turns down its request for a 53% real increase.
The ANC has come out strongly against Eskom's proposal to Nersa for a 53% electricity tariff increase, saying such an increase would be "unfair".
The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) said the proposed tariff would hit poor households the most.
At its last national working committee gathering, the party said it was against the poor having to foot the bill for Eskom's planning failures. ANC spokeswoman Jesse Duarte said that one of the issues the party needed clarity on was the "cost drivers" at Eskom.
"The meeting between the government and the ANC is so that we can develop a better understanding of what exactly is going on," Duarte said.
Mantashe said yesterday's talks with government leaders made "significant progress in identifying some of the key challenges" in tackling this crisis and the principal issues that should guide the country's approach to electricity tariffs.
"The meeting agreed on the need to convene a national energy summit as a matter of urgency. It also established a task team that would consider various options in preparation for the summit," the party said.
The energy summit to be convened by next month at the latest, would also use the timeframe set up by the Nersa process, Mantashe said.
Plans for the summit come as ANC's allies Cosatu and the SA Communist Party embark on protests against Eskom's proposed electricity hikes.
Asked if the ANC would endorse Cosatu's call for all financial assistance to Eskom to be halted until there was greater clarity on what the money would be used for Mantashe said: "We can't engage on the basis of demands, so it will be like putting the cart before the horse. I am solution driven, that is what we want in the end, solutions that will work."
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2008 Business Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
Africa as a continent, could be totally self sufficient in terms of electrical energy poduction if just one sizeable stable corporate body, not related to the oil industry, with establised manufacturing facilities in the Africa's would take a chance and consider funding our alternative energy system.
We, at GRAVITON POWER SYSTEMS LTD have developed a unique power generating system that relies on a freely available energy source which is inexhaustible, abundant the world over, free from ownership, and also free rom teritorial or political bias.
A fully operational small-scale working unit is available, which can be seen under cover of a very restrictive confidentiality agreement. However, any corporate body or indevidual wishing to see the system will be fully vetted with regard to any possible link with the oil industry.
We want this technology to be used; not hidden and shelved for the next twenty years.
It is really amazing that by today, 2 May 2008, several months after the energy crisis hit the nation, the energy summit is still being planned. These two institutions (government and ANC) have been, for that matter, aware for a couple of years that there was a crisis in the management of electricity in the country due to the failure of the Eskom executives to communicate effectively to government what needed to be done to avoid this situation and what the consequences will be if no prompt action is taken. The Financial Mail of last week carries an article on this matter, which indicates that the problem dates back to 1998.It says the two departments of Minerals and Energy and Public Enterprises simply failed to grasp the gravity of the matter and prevented Eskom from doing anything serious about the looming crisis. Nersa raised the problems of poor management of infrastructure by the municipalities way back in 2004 and that alone was a seriuos enough signal. Why did Eskom or Nersa not shout loud enough? Why did the Boards of these institutions not find other ways of making government to listen (e.g. resign en mass). If personalities who hold influential positions cannot use their power to influence government in the right direction, we will see more workers and students protesting violently. This planned summit should have taken place a week after the load shedding monster was presented to the nation. There seems to be no sense of urgency on this matter of shortage of electricity supply even today. Not one Minister has seen it fit to step down and allow themselves to be replaced by someone who could give the nation some confidence that this matter is receiving serious attention (where is the honour of this nation?). Minister Ewic has been so disappointing in trying to handle the power blackouts in the Western Cape. Minister Sonjica has not done or said anything inspiring either. All along until a few weeks ago (at the time when the responsible Ministers had been aware for several years that the policies of government on electricity supply are proving to be totally unsustainable) we were still being promised cheap electricity, now it is going to cost us more by a single increase of 53% and on top of that it will be delivered in shed loads (which means with a higher price you continue to get less) until at least 2013. Tell me if Goverment has started calculating by how much this is going to impact the SMMEs, the already high unemployment levels, etc. And please, don't come up with irrelevant stories of what other achievements the democratic government has made! We know that. Don't raise the issue of colour again! I am a black South African! There is too much politicking (political straight jackets) which impedes clear thinking and frustrates socio-economic progress in our country. Lets talk about the level of urgency given to this energy problem until now. Lets get someone who is not tainted by this mess to help us understand what good progress (real and complete strategy not a single event such as the French coming on board to help, which is welcome!) is being made to turn the electricity problem around. Who is seriously fighting for the constutional rights of the country's citizens? Regards, Member of the Public (MP)
Use free market ways of raising capital,do not always use the failing socialist way of rising prices as your one and only alternative.