Dear Editor
National Treasury should call the Minister of Electricity, Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, to order after he recklessly promised bonuses to Eskom staff, contradicting the terms of Treasury’s’ Eskom debt relief package.
One of the conditions for taking over part of Eskom’s debt was that “Eskom may not implement remuneration adjustments that negatively affect its overall financial position and sustainability.” With this clear stipulation, Ramakgopa took it upon himself to play populist politics and make promises about bonus payments when Eskom is clearly unable to pay them.
Promising Eskom workers a bonus while loadshedding strips our economy of billions of rands is crass, thoughtless and potentially dangerous. There simply isn’t any budgetary allocation towards a performance bonus, as it did not form part of Eskom’s the operational plan of for this financial year.
In the last week, the Minister has stated that the general malaise afflicting the Eskom workforce could be addressed by paying performance bonuses. There are several problems with this complete overstep by the Minister.
While the Minister is entitled to engage with the Board of Eskom, he is not the Minister of Public Enterprises under which the staff of Eskom fall. Furthermore, it is not part of the mandate of members of the Executive to take operational decisions, particularly those that have financial implications for an entity.
Never one to allow reality to stand in the way of a fantastic idea, the Minister has suggested the balance of money set aside for diesel for the Open Cycle Gas Turbines could be used for the bonuses.
Despite only R 20 billion of the allocated R 30 billion having been spent on the diesel for the turbines, there still remain 4 months of this financial year. The OCGTs are used to address peak times where the transmission grid is constrained. We know, however, that these turbines, despite being geared to operate at 10%, have been operating at 65% at times during this year. And, despite the ongoing promises of the ANC that the end of loadshedding is imminent, facts indicate that the need for the OCGTs will not diminish any time soon.
If the Minister’s goal is to improve morale, making a promise that he cannot deliver on is not the answer. Instead of diverting attention from the inability of the ANC to fix the energy crisis, the Minister and his team of experts should be following the lead of the DA-led Western Cape and thinking outside of the box to provide innovative mitigation measures to address the loadshedding crisis.
The DA calls on the Minister to put the responsibility of his office ahead of the popularity of his party and stop making baseless statements that further contribute to the disillusionment of South Africans across the country.
Regards
Samantha Graham-Maré MP
DA Shadow Minister of Electricity
ButterQuest
Why was Dr. Jekyll banned from South Africa? Because he was a fragment Hyde
Blink
Diary of an Englishman after he moves to South Africa….
**August 1**: Just got transferred with work from London, UK to our current home in Phalaborwa, Limpopo, South Africa. Now this is a town that knows how to live! Magnificent, sunny days and warm, balmy evenings. I watched the sunset from a deckchair by our pool yesterday. It was dazzling. I’ve finally found my novel home. I esteem it here.
**September 1:** Really heating up now. It got to 31 today. No problem though. Living in air-conditioned home, driving air-conditioned car. What a pleasure to see the sun every day like this. I’m turning into a sun-worshipper – no blasted rain like back in London! Had the back yard landscaped with tropical plants today. Lots of palms and rocks. No more mowing lawns for me! Another scorcher today, but I like it here. It’s Paradise !
**October 1:** The temperature hasn’t been below 35 every week. How finish people secure used to this nice of heat? At least today it’s windy though. Keeps the flies off a bit. Acclimatizing is taking longer than we expected. Fell asleep by the pool yesterday. Got third degree burns over 60% of my body. Missed three days off work. What a dumb thing to execute. Got to respect the dilapidated sun in a climate like this!
**October 25:** This wind is a bastard. It feels like a giant fucking blow dryer. And it’s hot as hell! The home air conditioner is on the blink and the repair man charged R200 just to steer over and disclose me he needs to order parts from @#$# Johannesburg. The wife & the kids are complaining.
**October 30:** The temperature’s up around 40 and the parts still haven’t arrived for the fucking air conditioner. House is an oven so we’ve every been sleeping outside by the pool for 3 nights now. Bleeding R4 million house and we can’t even depart inside. Why the hell did I ever approach here?
**November 4:** Finally got the fucking air-conditioner fixed. It cost R1,500 and gets the temperature down to around 35 degrees. Stupid repairman. Fucking thief. If one more smart bastard says ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I’m going to fucking throttle him. Fucking heat! By the time I procure to work, the car radiator is boiling over, my fucking clothes are soaking fucking wet and I odor like baked cat. Fucking plot is the conclude of the Earth.
**November 9:** Tried to race some errands after work, wore shorts, and sat on the black leather upholstery in my car. I thought my fucking backside was on flame. I lost 2 layers of flesh, every the hair on the backs of my legs and off my fucking behind. Now the car smells like burnt hair, fried bum and baked cat. The Weather report might as well be a fucking recording – hot and sunny. Hot and sunny, Hot and fucking sunny. It’s been too hot to enact anything for 2 bleeding months and the weatherman says it might really warm up next week. Fuck!!
**November 15:** Doesn’t it ever rain in this darn plot? Water restrictions will be next, so my R5,000 worth of palms might just dry up and blow into the fucking pool. The only things that thrive in this hell-hole are the fucking flies. You don’t dare open your mouth for terror of swallowing half a dozen of the diminutive buzzards!
**November 20:** Welcome to HELL! It got to 45 degrees today. Now the air conditioner is gone in my car. The repair man came to fix it and said, ‘Hot enough for you today?’ I wanted to push the car up his backside. Anyway, had to spend the R2,500 of the mortgage payment to bail me out of jail for assaulting the stupid fool. Fucking PHALABORWA! What nice of sick, demented idiot would want to live here!
**December 1:** WHAT!!!! The FIRST day of Summer!!!!
You are fucking kidding me, right?