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Time to join the war effort?

HOW MANY times have you read this statement? “The electricity supply system remains very vulnerable for the rest of the week due to a shortage of generation capacity as several units are currently out of service due to planned and unplanned outages.”

Most readers skim that sentence and jump straight to the comments section to share their frustration, anger and distrust in Eskom and the ANC-led government.

With the suspension of Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona, the resignation of Zola Tsotsi as chairperson, the labour unrest at Medupi, and load shedding, it seemed that moaning was the only thing the citizens of South Africa could do; a cry for help. GDP growth is set to shrink due to load shedding, which reportedly costs our economy between R20bn and R80bn a month.

Change is in the air

For the first time, I sensed a shift last week. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa’s War Room efforts had, until then, not shown any tangible results. His meetings with business leaders were the first glimpse of his leadership on the matter, but no clear announcements were made. Until last week, that is.

The War Room in my mind could be equated to a separate government to President Jacob Zuma’s. It’s Ramaphosa’s government and he has his own Cabinet with a very clear vision: “Sort out the mess we’re in.”

There were three optimistic press meetings held last week. I was fortunate to attend the first two.

Getting back on track

On Wednesday, Public Enterprise Minister Lynne Brown told media that she wanted an Eskom board focused on fiduciary issues and free from below-board business deals within the utility, something Tsotsi has been accused of.

Brown said the greatest achievement of the War Room was that it brought Eskom, her department, the Energy Department and others together for the first time, enabling them to focus on the issues at hand, ensuring they speak and act with one voice.

Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said something similar at her press conference the following day.

She was announcing that 13 independent power producers had won bids to start adding power to the grid, and she also announced a host of other possibilities for IPPs to add even more to the system. I have heard from reliable sources that these announcements were the result of those marathon meetings with Ramaphosa and his War Room.

The total amount of megawatts that IPPs will add to the grid is about a third of Eskom’s total, which is currently producing 95% of the country’s power, so you can see the shift that is taking place.

READ: SA to become global leader of renewables - IPP bid winner

The following day, Brown announced that she had seconded Transnet CEO Brian Molefe to be the acting Eskom CEO. Matona, when and if he returns, will likely be offered a role on the team, but probably not as CEO.

Brown said planned maintenance would continue throughout winter, meaning load shedding would be here more than ever. The issues at Medupi and the other power stations under construction were of critical importance and all eyes will remain on developments there for Molefe to sort out.

D-Day assault on common enemy

The War Room is saying: “We’re in a war situation and our enemy is ‘time’."

"Time to get Medupi and Kusile completed, time to fix all the current generators, time to get the private sector involved, time to get rid of incompetent and corrupt officials, and time to end the hours wasted during load shedding.

"We need the best people for the job and we need a war room effort to ensure victory.”

It is clear that Ramaphosa has launched his D-Day assault on this enemy.

(Which is why his trip to Indonesia is annoying. It’s just very unfortunate that the xenophobic crisis took place as the boats were landing on a metaphorical Normandy, because Zuma had to cancel his trip to focus on this tragedy, thus sending his deputy instead.)

Back to D-Day. I think it’s important for South Africans to get their heads around this. We’re at war. It’s not a war that you watch on History Channel, but we need to unite to overcome this great obstacle. The lessons we all learn from the experience could well be the building blocks of a more transparent country where business and state work together to plan, execute and achieve goals more effectively.

You can continue to write your feelings of frustration below, but I believe we can all play a role in this war effort.

What the media should do:

Media will remain committed to communicating as clearly as possible the load shedding situation. There will likely be key changes here, as the new CEO has indicated this will be his priority. Many business people hope for a more reliable and pre-planned timetable so they can plan a functioning business operation more effectively.

The media will continue using investigative journalism methods to keep telling stories that might not sit well with government, but which ensures the War Room delivers what they have promised. If it is serious about this "war", then we will tell their success story. But if they slip up, we will tell that story too. South Africans want all the facts so they can make informed decisions. The citizens should not be treated like idiots. That’s worse than any insult for people of this land.

Finally, media should publish stories about how we can adapt during this time. Brown told media last week that load shedding is here to stay for at least two years. Media should use its resources effectively to share your success stories revealing to the world that South Africans can achieve anything, no matter what obstacles arise.

I have two requests for Fin24 readers:

The first is for businesses and entrepreneurs to write to Fin24 to share their ideas about how businesses can adapt as well as success stories that others can benefit from. Brown said the economy and people of South African should adapt to load shedding and I think we should take her up on the challenge.

* What will be your war time contribution? Tell us now.

The other line in the Eskom statements that seems to rile readers is this: “Eskom calls on all customers to reduce the load on the electricity grid by switching off geysers, air conditioners, pool pumps and all non-essential appliances throughout the day, which will reduce electricity demand.”

* What if South Africans actually listened to this request? Could we avoid load shedding? Fin24 will be investigating this issue more and your feedback on whether this is possible would be valuable.

The second is a challenge that Brown set me personally. We all know that load shedding has its various stages, cutting off 1 000MW (stage 1), 2 000MW (stage 2), etc. We also know that during stage 1 and 2, big business cuts off 10% of their usage and during stage 3, they cut off 20%. When I asked how many megawatts this represented, she said only the industries could make it public, as it was their private agreement. We don’t know who those players are or how many of them there are. So, if you’re one of those contributors, please let us know so we can paint a more accurate picture of the situation.

* Tell us your industry's load reduction now.

We live in South Africa. It’s a place of fierce adaptability, innovation and success. Load shedding might not be our last crisis, but we could use lessons and achievements within it to write a Dummies Guide to Succeeding in South Africa – No Matter What.

* Matthew le Cordeur is a Fin24 content producer. These views do not necessarily reflect those of Fin24.

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