SOUTH Africans impatient for immediate gratification have been very quick to sneer at Eskom and the ANC government because of power outages.
But what is the full story?
In 1994, electricity was essentially there for the needs of industry and the white minority.
Very few people in the huge township of Soweto had access to electricity.
Other townships were worse off. As for blacks in the rural areas, electricity for them was not even dreamt of.
In 1994, only 39% of the population had access to electricity. Today it is 86%. The ANC-led government has electrified more houses in 20 years than the previous racist governments did since the formation of the Union of SA in 1910.
It must be admitted that in 1996, pressure from Western governments and financial institutions led to the adoption of the Gear programme that believed "market forces" were more important than state planning. Consequently there was a failure to create more generating capacity.
This has now been realised and SA is building the biggest coal-powered power station in the southern hemisphere - Medupi.
The government is also taking the possibility of a huge nuclear power deal with Russia seriously, much to the horror of the pro-Western white minority and its black followers.
The government has not neglected alternative sources of power. Eskom is operating under tremendous constraints.
Under popular pressure and fear of inflationary knock-on effects, the government has restricted electricity price hikes that, at the same time, unfortunately, do not help the building of new capacity and renovation of the old.
This has been made far worse by theft and vandalism of power cables and other important components needed for the electricity supply.
Load-shedding has been far less than originally expected and the government is hands-on in helping the power utility.
So, thank you Eskom, thank you ANC government. Let us look forward to a South Africa in which every household has access to electricity.
Your previous record tells us that we will make it.
Source: sowetanlive.co.za
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