The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) says the solutions that are being thrown at struggling State-owned energy utility Eskom are clearly not solving the problem and both Cabinet members and the Eskom board are not getting on top of the situation.
The entity believes the level of instability in the provision of power has serious negative implications for South Africa, given the country’s high unemployment rate and moribund economy.
Government and Eskom’s failure to find permanent solutions to loadshedding makes it near impossible for businesses to plan or expand, which damages the country’s prospect as an investment destination, Sacci states.
The chamber calls for a serious review of the entire Eskom ecosystem, with an independent, brutal and rigorous assessment of the root causes. The organisation says Eskom’s governance, operations, technology, suppliers, staff, customers and internal and external environments need a thorough looking into.
“The current solutions appear inadequate and are not working, despite Eskom spending hundreds of millions of rands on maintenance contracts and external consultants,” Sacci notes.
The organisation is imploring government to hold a summit with all relevant former Eskom executives of merit and integrity and other international energy experts to work out the problem and devise sustainable solutions.