Eskom sacrificed for other social needs and ideological hang-ups

Eskom is the leading contender to win the newsmaker of the year award. At the current rate, the power utility may even need to have its own special category for notoriety. 

But the failures at Megawatt Park reflect more than just ailing power stations, scarce diesel or even sabotage. They tell a story of our past, and the dilemmas of public policy and teach us what is required to become a successful nation. 

There’s no gainsaying that Eskom was a catalyst in the growth of our manufacturing sector.  Established in 1923, the company powered the expansion of the South African economy beyond the mining industry into the secondary sector. The lack of imports, caused by the outbreak of World War II, added impetus to the growth. The country had to be self-sufficient. 

By the 1950s, the importance of Eskom went beyond creating commercial success. It was a matter of national pride for an emerging ruling elite that, although descendants from Europe, had come to regard themselves as natives of the land, Afrikaners. And they were determined to disprove their historical rivals, the English, that they were not uncouth, but too were “civilised” and could lead a modern economy. 

By the early 1970s, the manufacturing sector had ballooned to a point where the exclusion of Africans from skilled work threatened further growth. The available pool of white workers just could not meet the demand for skills in the ever-growing manufacturing sector. Job reservation began to be relaxed.