Beitrag vom 26.04.2023

The Africa Report

How South Africa’s energy innovators are fighting vested interests and organised crime

By Ray Mwareya

Whoever destroyed the gigantic pylons carrying electricity to South Africa’s capital just as the ailing state power utility Eskom announced ‘Stage 8’ electricity outages – power cuts for more than 10 hours a day ­– reminded everyone that the country’s energy woes have become an existential threat to the economy and national security.

Yet it can be difficult to work out whether the depth of this energy disaster is prompting government, companies and technicians to find a viable way out – or the labyrinth of vested interests and co-opted politicians are making so much money out of the energy breakdown that they can sabotage anyone trying to fix it.

Some, like former President Thabo Mbeki, say the attack on state institutions such as Eskom is so overwhelming that it must be part of a broader scheme to discredit the ruling African National Congress. If Mbeki is right, then the schemers are succeeding. Along with the threat of violent crime, the power breakdowns have prompted the most searing criticism of the ANC government.

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