South Africans are furious about stage 6 load shedding, with many directing their anger at the ANC government.
So, it was no surprise that Mineral and Energy Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe created a neat diversion by accusing Eskom of “agitating to overthrow the state” in continuing the blackouts.
That is the typical reaction of the corrupt and inefficient autocrat – the likes of which have ruined this continent for 60 years. Conjure up a bogeyman, call someone a “plotter”, or “an enemy of the state”.
But, while South Africa is not quite a banana republic, this sort of statement from a government minister is reckless in the extreme.
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If you are saying that about Eskom, minister, then you must have the power utility’s management arrested and charged with treason… because agitating to overthrow the state is treasonous.
Even worse, though, was that Mantashe’s tirade came at a time when Eskom’s own figures showed that it was the “thin green line” of renewable energy which helped avert a slide into stage 8 load shedding.
And Mantashe, and others in the ANC, have been dragging their heels for years about issuing permission for the renewable energy industry to augment our collapsing electricity grid.
Had you done your job minister – instead of openly advocating for coal as a fuel source for power and supporting the deployment of “powerships” – we would not be in such a severe situation.
However, what is worrying is that, while Mantashe may seem to be expressing his own “loose cannon” opinion, even the ANC is not so shambolic as to allow an accusation of treason to be levelled unilaterally by a minister.
This must have been discussed at Cabinet level beforehand – and approved. And that is the most worrying of all – that the ANC seeks to blame everyone except itself.
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