When it comes to the country’s electricity crisis, the private sector must do as much as possible and the state as little as possible.
This is not an ideological position, but is based on the respective role-players’ performance over the past two decades.
Generally speaking, the private sector performs better in combating incompetence and dishonesty, while the state takes into account social needs and the long term.
In South Africa, however, that is not the case. Here, the state is failing all the tests.
It is crucial for Eskom to not only generate as much power as it possibly can, but also to maintain the frequency in the power grid.
It will enable private producers to use the grid for consumption and sales, at compensation.
Government must ensure that the electricity market is opened up and that regulation focuses on safety – not on who may have access to it.
Some members immediately think of so-called white monopoly capital when the private sector is mentioned.
In reality, though, it consists of ordinary people who work in small and large businesses and who influence decisions. Those are the people who are there to stay, and who realise that sometimes a reward must be postponed.
At present, electricity is centrally generated and distributed. In the future, it will increasingly be sporadically generated and consumed.
The current crisis is the result of individuals who each caused a little damage without considering the severe damage to which it all accumulates.
This crisis must be solved in the same way: Through many role-players who each contribute something, without a middleman who can channel the revenue stream to individual pockets.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Dr. Wynand Boshoff on FF Plus
