South Africa P.I.G.: ESKOM

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South Africa Falling Into Decay

By <a href="http://sarahmaidofalbion.blogspot.com/search/label/Poetry.%20Mike%20Wilson">Mike Wilson</a> South Africa – the name conjures up visions of white colonialism, riches of diamonds and gold, beautiful cities, beautiful people, rich farmlands and technical innovation. A strong and vibrant country with a modern army and air force and an air of expectancy, handed down from Afrikaner father to son, that their land would be the greatest in the whole continent. <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/6Gm7IzfqWos" width="640"></iframe> Well it does to me and this is what the country used to be like when I lived there 40 years ago. Johannesburg was a thriving metropolis of great buildings and the frenzied rush of people going about their affairs much like any other major city in the world. It was such a powerhouse of people, ideas and innovations and the strong Boer mentality over rode all. Today Johannesburg appears to be a run down shanty town with decrepit buildings, boarded up windows, filthy garbage riddled streets and squalor everywhere. What happened?   <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/LW6lOdxqSUE" width="640"></iframe> The infamous pass laws were rescinded in the early 90’s and the black man took over the country. This utopia, this land of riches, this gemstone in the crown of the continent is now like so many other African nations, a struggling mix of different tribes coming to terms with life in the 21st century. Unfortunately for these black Africans, they have not been able to rise above tribal culture and are cursed with a background that has not reached the stage which would enable them to mentally grasp all the requirements that are needed to administer a complex and busy country. From being the underdog to being the dominant force today has created major schisms within the overall South African society. There is an ongoing payback mentality that encourages blacks to take from the whites in many different ways. In one way the houses of white people are regularly burgled and effects stolen. This is not done covertly and gangs of blacks regularly threaten households. In another way there is what is now called ‘Black Empowerment’ or BEE where blacks are given preference over whites for available jobs. This stupid practice gives the unskilled African peasant direct involvement in manning the infrastructure support that runs the country. As a consequence the major power supply company Eskom is unable to maintain its equipment as most of the trained skilled white staff are no longer employed. This has caused frequent power supply problems so that they had to rely on power shedding or in other words maintaining power to select parts of their industry rather than all consumers who need it. The current youth leader of the ANC, Julius Malema, keeps telling his followers to kill the Boer, one man one bullet. He has recently been found guilty of inciting racial hatred and fined 50,000 Rand for his troubles. Not that this has changed his tactic one iota and on a recent trip to Zimbabwe he went out of his way to repeat the phrase to all who would listen. Over 3,000 white farmers have been murdered since the ANC took over in a deliberate government policy to get whites to give up their land. From being a rich farming country under white rule South Africa now faces the prospect of importing food to feed the masses. Many whites claim that there is now a policy of genocide levelled against Boer farmers as a result of the ANC policy to grab land. This is the same process that started in Zimbabwe and will have the same result. On a recent trip to Zimbabwe there were talks between Mugabe and Malema on how to take over the remaining land still in the hands of white minorities. Now there is also talk of the mining industry which made SA very rich, being nationalised for the benefit of the black politicians. Law and order is a thing of the past now. There is no law of protection for whites and no laws for the blacks to abide by. Even Jacob Zuma the current leader of the ANC had a number of rape and corruption charges levelled against him by the then law and order anti- corruption team called the Scorpions. The ANC had an easy answer to all this, they simply disbanded the unit and the charges were dropped! In fact many of the black policemen supposedly upholding what little law and order is left, are themselves involved in burglarising, raping and armed robberies. The number of deaths of whites has been unrecorded although the litany of deaths occurs on a daily basis. Many people felt that with the advent of black rule and empowerment blacks and whites would be able to sit together and maintain a strong and prosperous country that would continue to be the envy of Sub Saharan Africa. Today the situation is so bad that the country is becoming another Zimbabwe and whites are powerless to stop it but can only look on in horror as their once great country crumbles about them. Due to the political process of giving to the black at the expense of the white there are now 450,000 white people living below the poverty line in shanty towns around the country. The majority of these people are from Afrikaans backgrounds who would normally be the underclass looking after fairly menial jobs, railway workers, cleaners etc. Since those jobs are now taken by blacks these unfortunate men, women and children have no recourse but to become part of the homeless generation, forgotten by more affluent whites as well as the black government. Even some soup kitchens that were set up by well minded individuals have been closed by bureaucrats who say that the whites must fend for themselves. It’s only the help from other whites that keeps these unfortunate people with some form of subsistence. White liberalism is to blame for the problems affecting South Africa and the fall of the white Governments pre 1994. The world saw a country with blacks being oppressed and demanded change for the betterment of the black population. Just like Rhodesia several years earlier. Today, who has benefited from these changes? Certainly not the blacks as the majority of them are now far worse off than ever they were under white rule. Again, the classic example is Zimbabwe under the megalomaniac Mugabe who has robbed his country blind whilst 98% of his followers still live in shantytowns without the benefits of modern civilisation and in abject poverty. Every one of the ruling politicians in South Africa lives a life of wealth and privilege, with the latest cars, biggest houses in the best suburbs etc., yet their followers are very much worse off than they were when the whites ruled the country. Apart from the trashing of cities which have become sleazy rubbish dumps the hospital services are almost non existent. It’s hard to accept that the country that pioneered the first heart transplant under Dr. Christian Barnard has now a run down medical service which once used to be the envy of the world. Everything about the country today smacks of total incompetence with inmates running the asylum for the rest of the inmates who just have no idea what is going on. <a href="http://elliotlakenews.wordpress.com/2010/04/18/eugene-terreblanche-last-interview/">The murder of Eugene Terreblanche</a> may be just the last nail in the coffin of apathy that has affected the white liberals in this broken country. Indeed, apathy is probably the correct word to describe how the rest of the world views this former nation. It just seems that the power brokers amongst civilised nations are just sitting on the sidelines waiting for the continent to implode before they go back in perhaps 40 years time or so, and pick up the pieces once more. Although by that time the Chinese will have probably got in first and blacks will have a far stronger, stricter and nastier overseer than the whites ever were.

South Africa Falling Into Decay

By Mike Wilson S outh Africa – the name conjures up visions of white colonialism, riches of diamonds and gold, beautiful cities, beautiful...

8:05 AM

'Eksdom blows up a turbine' cover-up lies

Eskom broken generator R3bn setback It will cost Eskom R3bn to replace the turbine generator that spun out of control and burst during a maintenance test near eMalahleni (Witbank). But almost worse than the monetary damage is the loss of 600MW in generating capacity for more than a year. It would take more than a year to replace the unit, said Hillary Joffe, Eskom’s head of communications. Unofficial sources reckoned it could take 18 months before a new unit, which would have to be ordered from and specially manufactured by French suppliers, could be put into operation. Photographs taken for the purposes of investigation of the damage shortly after the accident have since been widely published on the internet and show that the gigantic unit at Duvha, one of Eskom’s biggest power stations, was irreparably damaged by the explosion. According to Joffe, an overspeed test on the unit was conducted on the evening of February 9. The turbine generator unit normally spins at 3 000 revolutions a minute when it is linked to the national power grid and the network operated at its normal 50 Hz voltage level. But during the test the unit is disconnected from the national network. A valve controlling an enormous flow of steam to drive the turbine is then gradually opened to raise the pressure of the steam on the turbine. The speed at which the turbine rotates increases as the steam pressure rises. Joffe said the system has a bolt that starts to cut the rotational speed of the turbine as soon as it goes 10% over the design speed of 3 000 revolutions a minute. This time the safety mechanism failed for some other reason. (see below to find out what actually happened at Duhva) As a result the turbine spun faster and faster. The rotational speed increased too quickly for anything to be done before the enormous machine burst with a tremendous explosion, with debris scattering in all directions. The explosion ripped off several steel plates in the roof of the turbine hall. Pieces of shrapnel made hundreds of holes in the remainder of the 30-metre-high roof. - Sake24 Amazing how pics like these can get out even after Eskom put a blanket of secrecy around the whole incident ... Check out the holes in the roof - it's like a bomb went off - and that boken driveshaft lying on the floor is +-350mm diameter.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFjacD0Cq9gqYBXyMwO21qVf0mbMYgT8orgPqWGJcJ9ooByf8j40hBeiLbzw1G9kUPhMKjnymDzc0jOQMlIQZXKNdPTNWUuQ9WbEvCmV1QvG12FhmDhGNRevIFWxT266QiHNQkAZUaQwV/s1600/eskom-turbine.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586641558027128738" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnFjacD0Cq9gqYBXyMwO21qVf0mbMYgT8orgPqWGJcJ9ooByf8j40hBeiLbzw1G9kUPhMKjnymDzc0jOQMlIQZXKNdPTNWUuQ9WbEvCmV1QvG12FhmDhGNRevIFWxT266QiHNQkAZUaQwV/s400/eskom-turbine.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRbF-mS5GSNo7G4YnB5TKnM42WvWDOHk_R3F8m3AfJ1wepaGm0973xorzsTprBbBXKyx106othrBXix8Z0Pvyy8EmKKJ2oW8UsfMOF-S8IhI5JD3T1HiMJn4JsKx8sCjzkqEAfu0f4wCp/s1600/eskom-turbine01.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586643083097054498" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixRbF-mS5GSNo7G4YnB5TKnM42WvWDOHk_R3F8m3AfJ1wepaGm0973xorzsTprBbBXKyx106othrBXix8Z0Pvyy8EmKKJ2oW8UsfMOF-S8IhI5JD3T1HiMJn4JsKx8sCjzkqEAfu0f4wCp/s400/eskom-turbine01.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSDBZjDavNCdpNQb1YP2IKIPBzv0P9eZARg-LjjTYUCbWO0tF4N9TYfvJJmvRdxxMN7tXk3v2PiF5f3_vutVWsju6JvqDRl6ERDX97mISctLBBR8uz4jpYDrEs_bE_4CJcJJedi6wmJgR/s1600/eskom-turbine06.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586656089877117074" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJSDBZjDavNCdpNQb1YP2IKIPBzv0P9eZARg-LjjTYUCbWO0tF4N9TYfvJJmvRdxxMN7tXk3v2PiF5f3_vutVWsju6JvqDRl6ERDX97mISctLBBR8uz4jpYDrEs_bE_4CJcJJedi6wmJgR/s400/eskom-turbine06.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDRe8RPtnlZmP31ZZq6y0yvq5TpuHtkbMHN_FiD7AwDkxR93ZavWjwOFz06tyJZBidnjDoH56l6T4eNYi0hQhN30m27IhI5Ip2KIept3k79fl9Xvt3Yt7BfRBS0nkL5zoB6_0PKCZa-6O/s1600/eskom-turbine02.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586643564657182162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGDRe8RPtnlZmP31ZZq6y0yvq5TpuHtkbMHN_FiD7AwDkxR93ZavWjwOFz06tyJZBidnjDoH56l6T4eNYi0hQhN30m27IhI5Ip2KIept3k79fl9Xvt3Yt7BfRBS0nkL5zoB6_0PKCZa-6O/s400/eskom-turbine02.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Qgo-Ifz0yxxYT-p4SkpszxhiqHHfE9P-DevhMn7OHVZAFBtmmFgEAf2c6_Y2EzVtClLlvIFL4Se2GxGzEI51K4WYvPUTtzvglrM2LPgTI1NyKJB74wmBM70MKz-S1MIXIIE1FbXqOd3E/s1600/eskom-turbine03.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586644158986761010" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7Qgo-Ifz0yxxYT-p4SkpszxhiqHHfE9P-DevhMn7OHVZAFBtmmFgEAf2c6_Y2EzVtClLlvIFL4Se2GxGzEI51K4WYvPUTtzvglrM2LPgTI1NyKJB74wmBM70MKz-S1MIXIIE1FbXqOd3E/s400/eskom-turbine03.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzCbB7Z1FY81KNHy3a19UX8Moqo6l2v8O_etGMtFcQDHH_Y3DsXGWlwgRzYY6KCc58pgGu4y58oEvyb18t0llNdmDBof-_gLW_1Oed8NqE3KYgdq7kUs9oDCH5qybnL6JbO5PUSglz4hQ/s1600/eskom-turbine04.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586644946409696290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUzCbB7Z1FY81KNHy3a19UX8Moqo6l2v8O_etGMtFcQDHH_Y3DsXGWlwgRzYY6KCc58pgGu4y58oEvyb18t0llNdmDBof-_gLW_1Oed8NqE3KYgdq7kUs9oDCH5qybnL6JbO5PUSglz4hQ/s400/eskom-turbine04.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNONibHgK1TeUjhZr2WbYYTaOmEoHbJZO2M4yl_JIMVbA-5JJxZ-5jakCvDakGoV3THN_GNU4wiX7t41Mi1-4CXu0S5h1KLJlP6-4psCw9wR1DmmeddwsQTI9zceLVxWgY8K8K3xYWE6Di/s1600/eskom-turbine05.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5586645888711829154" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNONibHgK1TeUjhZr2WbYYTaOmEoHbJZO2M4yl_JIMVbA-5JJxZ-5jakCvDakGoV3THN_GNU4wiX7t41Mi1-4CXu0S5h1KLJlP6-4psCw9wR1DmmeddwsQTI9zceLVxWgY8K8K3xYWE6Di/s400/eskom-turbine05.bmp" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> ESKOM blows up a turbine - R3Billion later <blockquote> "So I found out what happened at Duhva. They were doing a test of the turbine overspeed protection system, and in short, the protection did not kick in. Conventional wisdom tells me that there should be a better way to test a protection system than to try and destroy the turbine and see if it feels like protecting itself, but that’s basically what they did. The turbine has a governor valve which controls the amount of steam coming into the turbine in order to keep it running at the right speed (3000 rpm for our grid frequency) and then it has a main isolation valve to shut the steam off completely. The protections systems (of which there are 3 independent systems, and a dude with his finger on the emergency button) are supposed to close this main isolation valve in a fraction of a second when the turbine overspeeds. So they get ready for the test, they dump a helluva lot of steam onto the turbine, speed starts going crazy, it went from 3000 RPM to 4500 RMP in ten seconds (they are generally only designed for 10 to 15% overspeed, all three protection systems should have kicked in by the time you get to 110%). Anyway, all three systems failed, and the dude with his finger on the manual trip button wasn’t at his post. So the result was a big bang, some fire and a lot of steam going where it shouldn’t go. Scary thing is Duvha has a shared turbine hall. All six units are placed in one long straight stripe, with no missile shield between them. And if you look at the third last pic you can see how big that shaft is, if that landed on another turbine it would have destroyed that too. They are very lucky they didn’t lose the entire station. So anyway, what gets reported in the news? “Unforeseen maintenance” at one of the units at Duvha requires it to remain shut down for 18 months. Understatement of the century in my book. But you shut off the containment ventilation system at Koeberg for one hour and a radiation alarm goes off, then it’s a front page news national crisis. I give up." </blockquote> Source: <a href="http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=79395">http://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/showthread.php?t=79395</a>

'Eksdom blows up a turbine' cover-up lies

Eskom broken generator R3bn setback It will cost Eskom R3bn to replace the turbine generator that spun out of control and burst during a mai...

1:50 PM

Fat-cat parastatal bosses come and go, but they get the cream

Seven of the top-10-earning executives at SA's parastatals have either left or are leaving. And a number of them left under a cloud. Moreover, eight of the top-paid heads of parastatals would have ranked among SA's 150 biggest earners in private companies. <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5547320646424532418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9HPqtBDJ54Ow53tM-ev4HUYvI47-xmukVm7r5sRWXwGBxGKRwsD8vW2uAzzTVebJ1Wku4bmU8C1sFeF4M3zaJJOg4D_Q_2mi1UeGdUXg5Cg2ORWd02d9Mb8nAiXP6q2hOLoNaW5OItjm/s400/corruption-theft.jpg" style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 360px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 305px; CURSOR: hand" />Research into parastatal pay, carried out by Who Owns Whom, is done on a selected number of parastatals, so it does not capture the pay of all directors of state-owned entities. Pay at entities such as Eskom, SAA, Denel, and the SABC should be seen in the context of regular news about failure, controversy and financial bail-outs. Khaya Ngqula, the former head of SAA, tops the rankings, having earned R13.7-million in 2009. This included his controversial R9.35-million "termination benefit" - the amount he was paid to go away. Behind was Geoffrey Qhena of the Industrial Development Corporation, one of the few who still has his job. Qhena earned R10.3-million last year. This included a performance bonus of almost R7-million. The IDC and Transnet were among the biggest payers, with numerous directors earning big packages. Jacob Maroga, who ranked 10th, was sacked from Eskom in late 2009 with no official golden handshake, but R9-million in previously awarded shares will be transferred to him through 2010 and up to March 2011. Universally acknowledged to have managed Eskom poorly, Maroga enjoyed a salary of more than R5-million in 2009. The court has since reserved judgment in his subsequent bid for a payout for unlawful dismissal. Maroga is suing for benefits he would have accrued into 2011 - to a total of R85-million. Eskom CEO Brian Dames faces a huge task if he is to alter the organisation's trajectory and justify the recent rate hikes and requests for funding, but the pain will be eased by his own hefty pay packet: a salary of R3.3-million, a short-term bonus of R1.22-million, another of R946000 and a payment of R230000, listed as "other". Over at poorly performing Telkom, CEO Reuben September, who has since left, pulled in a performance bonus of R1.84-million, with other benefits of R7.43-million on top of a salary of R3.6-million to rake in a total income of R12.8-million (down from a hefty R19.1-million the year before). In October 2009 new SAA board chairman Cheryl Carolus famously took action against Ngqula (the new SAA board apparently paid R20-million for a forensic report) for cash spent outside of his financial mandate that needed to be paid back, announcing a suit against Ngqula for R30.8-million, with further thinking required on how to recoup R141-million in misspent sponsorship money. SAA paid bonuses of R60.7-million to 153 managers over three years, at an average of R400000 per employee, as part of a retention scheme that Ngqula introduced. The pending court action will eat up yet more taxpayers' money. Similarly, Dali Mpofu was paid R12-million when he left the SABC, even though the broadcaster was R800-million in the red at the time. Siyabonga Gama, the CEO of Transnet freight rail, was dismissed for breach of governance requirements in respect of two procurement contracts before he could lead the running in the race to fill the position of Transnet CEO. The position has been vacant for over a year since Maria Ramos stepped down. Gama's pay for his last year was more than R4-million. Executive directors and senior managers at three parastatals - Transnet, Eskom and the IDC - were paid an average salary of R3.7-million per year for the past three financial years to the end of March. Eskom posted the worst performance of the three, but its directors were the most highly paid. In all, Transnet's three-year wage bill amounted to R245.6-million for 23 directors and senior managers, while Eskom was estimated to have paid R139-million in the same period, an average annual remuneration of R5.8-million for eight directors and senior managers. The IDC paid its 20 directors (including those at subsidiary Foskor) and senior managers R170.6-million over the three years, at an average of R2.8-million each.

Fat-cat parastatal bosses come and go, but they get the cream

Seven of the top-10-earning executives at SA's parastatals have either left or are leaving. And a number of them left under a cloud. Mor...

12:37 PM

Fat cats pocket R262 million of Tax Payer money for FAILING!!!

Payouts to "failed" departing chief executives of South Africa's parastatals have cost the South African public at least R262.1 million over the last decade, a Democratic Alliance MP said on Tuesday. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdKOeC109PSuN_THS0XYmd-AlVX4znMvZ3r1bYFuaCxEM2FIueL9FOmvRrP-fx0aC6cbe_jwhf7W5Daub8VrqBJMijIHI5CMSp4tWKhIX1kAjBLMk6AFWNsqtd5A7RyeSiwwGseoq7tAj_/s1600-h/fat_cat01.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yMZ4ei7eOwuQV5362hHDMRb2Xjhxa9Xto-yIwwhx7yI_-oyroImfHM3Fj7TxFtoYZtMIHDJAnkJHVOBgwNiArtUivwyNwVmfTe27CDz2SjU91abCD7FKKMm3hOtGCMP7gaU_TZQw0jr0/s1600-h/zuma-gravy.bmp"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432009704403560050" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4yMZ4ei7eOwuQV5362hHDMRb2Xjhxa9Xto-yIwwhx7yI_-oyroImfHM3Fj7TxFtoYZtMIHDJAnkJHVOBgwNiArtUivwyNwVmfTe27CDz2SjU91abCD7FKKMm3hOtGCMP7gaU_TZQw0jr0/s400/zuma-gravy.bmp" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 226px" /></a>Pieter van Dalen said the cost of the payouts would jump to R347 million if former Eskom chief executive Jacob Maroga was successful in a lawsuit against the parastatal. "If paid out, Jacob Maroga's R85 million claim would be just the latest in a series of staggering salary payouts to unsuccessful executives," Van Dalen said. "Since 2001, at least R262.1 million has been awarded to parastatal bosses for their part in running their respective parastatals to the ground." These payouts include an R8 million settlement received by former SA Airways (SAA) chief executive Khaya Ngqula, after he was fired for his role in a R1 billion tender rigging saga in 2009. Before Ngqula, SAA paid CEO Andre Viljoen R3.6 million on top of a salary of R2.2 million and a performance bonus of almost R1 million. During Viljoen's last two years at the helm of SAA, the company made losses of R15 billion. In 2001, former SAA CEO Coleman Andrews received a golden handshake of R232 million, even though the airline posted a net loss of more than R700 million for that year. In 2009 the SABC paid R11 million to its former group CEO Dali Mpofu. Mpofu took the SABC to court after he was suspended for suspending then head of news and current affairs Snuki Zikalala. Former Denel chief executive Victor Moche, who was fired from his position by then public enterprises minister Alec Erwin, walked away from the parastatal with a golden handshake of about R3 million in 2005. Land Bank CEO Alan Mukoki received R4.5 million after he quit in 2007 amid R2 billion worth of fraud. "This list, it should be noted, is limited only to payouts received by departing CEOs of parastatals. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWEofYA4lUpx5dRWem2qz0EHIwYduYaG0rB1ZX8hziy4Vxc8a1DqtTbskqkrgnxp9jY4p1FKHFjyrbdP6Vg1fDmE739H0F3BiperxaOtIjKb8bljmepIySpvYZwgUT5-4VH7BWZ_6TJkm/s1600-h/gravy-train.bmp"></a>"The culture of golden handshakes, however, extends far beyond that under the ANC. Recent examples of Lawrence Mushwana (R7 million) and Vusi Pikoli (R7.5 million) illustrate precisely that point." Van Dalen said the party would pose questions to the Minister of Public Enterprises Barbara Hogan to establish the true cost of severance packages over the last few years. "We cannot continue to pay for incompetence like this. This is money that could be spent on ensuring that parastatals deliver quality services to the public that they are required to". Related:- <a href="http://moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page326289?oid=332997&sn=2009+Detail+no+image&pid=326289">Drowning in the trough</a><a href="http://moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page326289?oid=342546&sn=2009+Detail+no+image&pid=326289">The revenge of Jacob Maroga</a>

Fat cats pocket R262 million of Tax Payer money for FAILING!!!

Payouts to "failed" departing chief executives of South Africa's parastatals have cost the South African public at least R262....

7:50 PM

Where do we get such a sense of entitlement?

A gigantic whopping R85m lawsuit by Maroga against the utility! <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5431973537792960386" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvy2Lh7nrr-LwJ8E9V93wlVvRSKbBpSUEFGHUy39WmOxPRoHFpqVA0C8FGj3S1ewqijwxHqVuQvoj0C_ZFt-54GsZdzuR_E6SEVbpi28AEBUQFAZoEWCM0pEQhfrWGchk2ppBPOcSfaldX/s400/eskomfzjm.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 298px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" /> In a civil claim filed at the Johannesburg High Court, the sacked CEO demands what he described as reasonable damages unless he is reinstated to the position he left amid controversy last year. He is suing his former employer Eskom, its Chairman and Acting CEO Mpho Makwana and Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan. He accuses the board of illegally conspiring to fire him under the guise of a voluntary resignation. His court papers bear testimony to the lavish lifestyle he thoroughly enjoyed at taxpayers' expense. Maroga, whose five-year contract was due to expire in 2012, is demanding everything he was entitled to when he was still the utility's CEO, including future earnings. This includes R14.5m for the loss of salary, R45m for incentives and R7m for other benefits, According to his claim, Eskom paid R1m a year for dedicated protector and driver, and a driver for his family. This includes R500 000 a year for security at his Kyalami Estates home, and a R100 000 for general home support. This also includes R1m a year for personal assistance, just under R100 000 a year for a petrol and a garage card for his Mercedes Benz C350 and R5 000 a month for medical aid up to the age of 80. He also demands R3m to cancel his housing loans. He has a home in the exclusive Kyalami Estates. In addition to his monthly 2009-2010 salary of R430 833, Maroga's claim details the R45m in incentives he had expected Eskom to pay him during the remainder of his renewable five-year contract. This is made up of an annual short-term incentive scheme performance bonus of R10.7m, and a long-term retention bonus of R34.3m for the period 2006 to 2012. He also demands a sincere public apology for the strife and emotional anguish caused by the drama around his departure. There you are. I ask myself one question: Where do we get such a sense of entitlement? Why do we think we deserve these huge sums of money when we have not even performed sufficiently enough to deserve them? What did Maroga do to deserve what he is demanding from the taxpayer? Is it the black-outs that he subjected us to in 2008 which saw the mines shutting down and other businesses suffering irreparable losses? Does he want to be compensated for the billions that the economy lost every day during those blackouts? Does he want to be rewarded for the 135% tariff hikes (over three years) that he proposed during his disastrous tenure? Hold your breath, because these tariff hikes are going to leave your economy in tatters. Pray, because these tariff hikes are going to cripple businesses and households to such an extent you won't want to do businesses or call this country your home. Those electricity intensive mines will shut down again, and this time for an extended period of time. Kiss foreign direct investment (FDI) goodbye because your country will have become too costly to do business in. What about those disastrous management decisions? And this man wants all this money to feed his obscene lavish lifestyle despite the chaos he left behind? Why this entitlement? This, in fact, brings me back to the Honourable Mr Dali Mpofu, the former SABC CEO who also left under a cloud. The guy was paid R12m to leave. I repeat, to leave after a series of management blunders, which left the public broadcaster literally bankrupt. These experiences show us that there is no alignment between performance and reward at these state enterprises. Why this entitlement? By Sipho Ngcobo - MoneywebSee also <a class="headline_list_bold_new" href="http://moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page326289?oid=342546&sn=2009+Detail&pid=287226" target="_blank">The revenge of Jacob Maroga</a>How "morally bankrupt and corrupt" is remuneration of parastatal executives?

Where do we get such a sense of entitlement?

A gigantic whopping R85m lawsuit by Maroga against the utility! In a civil claim filed at the Johannesburg High Court, the sacked CEO demand...

1:13 PM

Eskom importing black employees to meet AA targets

Eskom black employees recruited from countries such as the USA and UK to work for Eskom to help Eskom reach its affirmative action targets. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvyFFrsH1DUAPkWxWLUuN7Tb7jiXlNtrP6WMvhLMrsRas81kOhS4e8P6kv-WdCsbwqgEcFdUPHHie_FOWSpAVrXPmvoSVquf4YkWjn1qXiv8CiBmPbSlDvvpYFxuTprBEDWhkA3PH9sbP/s1600-h/eskom.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5430774976701418402" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkvyFFrsH1DUAPkWxWLUuN7Tb7jiXlNtrP6WMvhLMrsRas81kOhS4e8P6kv-WdCsbwqgEcFdUPHHie_FOWSpAVrXPmvoSVquf4YkWjn1qXiv8CiBmPbSlDvvpYFxuTprBEDWhkA3PH9sbP/s400/eskom.gif" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 254px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px" /></a>See Carte Blanche story <a href="http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=3819&ShowId=1">Eskom Expats </a>Dozens of Americans and Brits recruited by the electricity giant Eskom to fill skilled labour positions. <a href="http://beta.mnet.co.za/carteblanche/Article.aspx?Id=3819&Showid=1">Watch</a> In terms of a campaign launched by Eskom a few years ago, the plan was to recruit nearly 5000 new employees over a period of five years — about half of these had to be black women. Solidarity maintains that if these allegations of appointments being abused for the sake of affirmative action targets are in fact true, the electricity supplier has dug a hole for itself. "South Africa has extremely capable people with years of experience at Eskom, but who have lost their jobs there since 1994. By blindly chasing after targets and importing black employees simply because of their skin colour, Eskom is taking things too far," Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said. "Not only were the employees lured to the company under false pretences, but Eskom also tried to reach targets in an illegal manner by simply appointing black employees to the positions. This approach does not benefit any South African, black or white, and the company should rather look at developing local expertise," explained Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans. Kleynhans emphasized that Eskom's attempt to reach affirmative action targets has completely destroyed the company's efficiency. "If suitable, local black employees cannot be found to fill the positions, Eskom cannot ignore suitable white employees," "After all, the original purpose of affirmative action is in no way achieved by appointing black foreigners and an urgent investigation should be launched into Eskom's affirmative action appointments to determine who, by right, qualifies for the positions because the jobs were actually earmarked for local employees," Kleynhans explained.

Eskom importing black employees to meet AA targets

Eskom black employees recruited from countries such as the USA and UK to work for Eskom to help Eskom reach its affirmative action targets. ...

12:08 PM

Political intervention in Eskom saga under scrutiny

Zuma intervenes in the governance and running of Eskom <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtIF_Qj8JJZU9yzKOQhkk0IHSrRp0iC6iTY-JkfudOnioHMF1WHmtuprh_-VmCYwC3eZeaeBxMvmiCTR-W-1xHD3xxllI98z0GIZDexo6SGkxCX5YLLoFNk7YfxIMaePM2rXBOyH5dWcI/s1600-h/ANC-ESKOM.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402210383989476114" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtIF_Qj8JJZU9yzKOQhkk0IHSrRp0iC6iTY-JkfudOnioHMF1WHmtuprh_-VmCYwC3eZeaeBxMvmiCTR-W-1xHD3xxllI98z0GIZDexo6SGkxCX5YLLoFNk7YfxIMaePM2rXBOyH5dWcI/s320/ANC-ESKOM.jpg" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 318px" /></a>The latest developments at Eskom are a "complete disaster", analyst Adam Habib said after Eskom chairperson Bobby Godsell resigned on Monday and CEO Jacob Maroga returned to work after his own apparent recent resignation. "Now we've clearly got a public crisis at the level of Eskom," said Habib, deputy vice-chancellor of research at the University of Johannesburg. "Now they are under the scrutiny of national and international media." He said that even if there was no political intervention, as speculated, Monday's developments created this perception after the African National Congress Youth League's insistence that Maroga had not resigned. "It's hard to figure out what's going on. Clearly there was a dispute between Godsell and Maroga, and the CEO seems to have taken precedence." He said that either the chairperson of the board made the announcement of Maroga's resignation without a mandate, or he had a mandate and then the board acted against him, or the board was overridden by a higher authority. "I don't know which scenario is accurate. We have got a disaster on our hands -- you cannot continue with crisis after crisis after crisis in public institutions." He cautioned against blaming the race question for the controversy, saying that Godsell was liked within the ANC and the labour movement. "I think it is quite a big blow that Godsell has resigned," said Investment Solutions economist Chris Hart. "It appears as though the authority of the board is being undermined. The corporate governance at Eskom seems to have been rocked very badly." Godsell announced to Eskom staffers on Thursday that Maroga had resigned but, shortly after that, Godsell called off a media briefing on the matter. Confusion reigned when the ANCYL said Maroga had not quit, until Eskom told the South African Press Association on Monday morning that Maroga was indeed still at the helm of the state utility. At about the same time, public enterprises spokesperson Ayanda Shezi confirmed Godsell had resigned. Political pressure on Eskom chairman Bobby Godsell to resign Kruger International economist Ulrich Joubert said: "The implication is that there was some political intervention ... it will be a serious pity if this is the case. "It would raise a few eyebrows in the investment world. Normally, financial markets do not like political intervention." The Star reported on Monday that President Jacob Zuma had met with Godsell on Sunday afternoon, in an apparent departure from his stance not to interfere in state enterprises. Public Enterprises Minister Barbara Hogan last week denied Zuma had interfered in the Maroga saga. Earlier this year, the Presidency distanced itself from a bid by Transnet executive Siyabonga Gama to get his job back. "The governance of state enterprises as a whole may well have been affected badly [by Godsell's resignation]. It appears as though the authority structures have been usurped," Hart said. "Where you have a board that reports to Cabinet, that is accountable to Parliament, that kind of authority structure seems to have been undermined. "We are not receiving credible explanations for this. It seems the board has been paralysed by the machinations of the past few weeks," said Hart. Shezi could not say by 3pm on Monday afternoon whether the rest of the Eskom board had also quit. Vytjie Mentor, the chairperson of Parliament's public enterprises committee, on Friday criticised the board's handling of the matter. CEO Maroga’s “hopeless management” cost the country R50 billion Maroga has been head of Eskom in turbulent times marked by rolling blackouts, coal procurement shortages and record-high electricity tariff increases. -- Sapa

Political intervention in Eskom saga under scrutiny

Zuma intervenes in the governance and running of Eskom The latest developments at Eskom are a "complete disaster", analyst Adam H...

12:05 PM

Eskom’s R1.3 trillion nuclear plans will bankrupt SA

By pushing ahead with its nuclear plans, South African power utility Eskom will bankrupt this country environmental lobbyists Earthlife Africa said today <img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340540921582232562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXWVL3mrNpVxqjat41WHwGFo3fTFqCX9_g-m4k5zmZg4rebduCgOKOq8V8Njz740q90oTsv3G4Mh7ZGMTBD7Af4wE7RT_ygkJ6r92m0uzO_bZovh7r1rw4i-oQQk4A6h76_bHPaZYCJEp1/s400/nuclearfail.jpg" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 156px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" />Accusing Eskom of an “uneconomic U-turn” on its nuclear plans, Earthlife Africa questioned the utility’s ability to fund its 1.3 trillion rand capital expenditure programme. “In just over six months, Eskom has changed its mind on nuclear power. In December 2008, Eskom considered nuclear power to be too expensive. In May 2009, Eskom released plans to build nuclear plants,” said Earthlife Africa energy policy officer Tristen Taylor. South Africa this week outlined tentative dates for a renewed rollout of nuclear power stations with proposed plans indicating it could start preparing the first of three sites as early as January 2011. Three nuclear plants, each with a generation capacity of 4,000MW, would be brought into operation every two years starting July 2018 through to July 2022. Eskom currently operates Africa’s sole nuclear power plant with a total capacity of 1,800 MW. But nuclear power remains the most expensive form of electricity generation. As Earthlife Africa pointed out, it also comes with inherent safety risks, and produces highly radioactive waste that must be dealt with for hundreds, if not thousands, of generations. The costs of generating electricity from nuclear power exceed that of coal, natural gas, geothermal, wind, solar thermal, and landfill gas. “Where Eskom hopes to find the money for this expensive project is beyond comprehension,” said Taylor. Currently, Eskom does not have a funding model to support its current capex programme of 340 billion rand, and its recent application to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa is about seeking a 34% tariff increase to meet rising primary energy and maintenance costs, not to cover its planned total 1.3 trillion rand capex programme, Earthlife said. Recent reports suggest that Eskom will be seeking funding from the government for its nuclear programme, but Taylor warned that ordinary citizens would end up having to pay for an industry that produces radioactive waste, creates fewer jobs than any other form of electricity generation, and is the most expensive form of electricity generation. – I-Net Bridge

Eskom’s R1.3 trillion nuclear plans will bankrupt SA

By pushing ahead with its nuclear plans, South African power utility Eskom will bankrupt this country environmental lobbyists Earthlife Afr...

4:31 AM

Eskom Nuclear Power Plant to occupy South Africa's Natural Heritage Site in Cape

Hello Nuclear. Goodbye the Cape Whale Route and the Fynbos Road – it was nice knowing you! <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jjmpAYXe-iQ5wQz7BGqkFaSx7oTcV3cTmecznJHjgrVW4-xtXit_zu6yyWS-1-1dRsgVLCoi4Nq10-xpLGaw-K4P2BW-TFpE34WaKgylAtH3w3JdoB3VOsJcHTw-G8AC5KGX8T7AGfR9/s1600-h/ESKOM-pylons.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320921601990853922" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jjmpAYXe-iQ5wQz7BGqkFaSx7oTcV3cTmecznJHjgrVW4-xtXit_zu6yyWS-1-1dRsgVLCoi4Nq10-xpLGaw-K4P2BW-TFpE34WaKgylAtH3w3JdoB3VOsJcHTw-G8AC5KGX8T7AGfR9/s400/ESKOM-pylons.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 300px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 225px" /></a>Eskom is pushing ahead with plans for a new 4000 megawatt nuclear power station (more than double the size of Koeberg, with two 900 MW reactors) at Bantamsklip on the Overberg coast. The draft scoping report for the environmental impact assessment of the transmission lines for Bantamsklip was published in March and the final draft is expected shortly. The proposed nuclear facility, a stone’s throw from Pearly Beach on the Agulhas section of the Cape Whale Route, is nothing short of cultural and economic suicide for all those planning a sustainable tourism future, or who might have chosen the area as their preferred holiday or retirement destination. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVVeDqw30ejfdT7caKiV6mo6GLIJP29fZ5Hlh1sW8QOKAJEAk-6vrZ0Sl9qoEUiTHkpHwK1h7HyQk2h5AOe1pJF7QzQSJf8pFflTvB5Wa-5WKm7BP_CTkEKpCj3HfJmzD3u3SJMEEXU3Zy/s1600-h/Cape_Agulhas_Lighthouse.jpg"></a>Firstly, the proposed nuclear power facility will occupy a registered SA Natural Heritage Site. The farm harbours 800 plant species including 21 Agulhas Plain endemics, six of which are entirely restricted to the farm. This ranks as the most extreme concentration of point endemism recorded anywhere in the world. Groot Hagelkraal represents the foremost conservation priority in the Cape Floristic Region and is regarded as the world’s “hottest” of botanical hot spots. Secondly the proposed power plant will spew its power lines across the Agulhas National Park and the Nuwejaars Wetland Special Management Area. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwy8uHiEmwsemF4Qw5aHzPkk3kpaRza8FLX-9es-RcECKN4EusbEcwHE68Sju5_YTyn0LwDx2clR2ysj5a8qr5W5aSDKw07vPOvDHtxMuDl-P7hzIQHUdiE34u_s1C8WoxgRWvacKZjeP6/s1600-h/Cape_Agulhas_Lighthouse.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321344553880428514" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwy8uHiEmwsemF4Qw5aHzPkk3kpaRza8FLX-9es-RcECKN4EusbEcwHE68Sju5_YTyn0LwDx2clR2ysj5a8qr5W5aSDKw07vPOvDHtxMuDl-P7hzIQHUdiE34u_s1C8WoxgRWvacKZjeP6/s320/Cape_Agulhas_Lighthouse.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" /></a>The sea along the Hagelkraal/Bantamsklip coastline is also home to an extraordinary diversity of marine life, with many marine species being unique to the area. Add to that the fact that the physical location experiences the highest wave energy (waves/swell action) on the South African coast – mountainous seas are experienced during southwesterly gales that coincide with high spring tides. How could anyone sensitive to the wonders of nature want to deface and destroy the place by siting a large nuclear power station there? Explanation: The nuclear power plant will produce a massive thermal discharge into the sea (in the order of 100 cubic metres per second of hot water used in condenser cooling). This permanent influx of unseasonal hot water, carried in a thermal plume, will alter the sea temperature over a large area, affecting phytoplankton and benthic plant growth and devastating the endemic kelp ecology, thereby radically altering the unique marine environment of these coastal waters. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmsbnogXu7ogXSV0WWUY2hYXn3dL7fMwoGzpKzgKtkHAB_tO5OCB5ki48kW0i4o-RU2VVCoEivRRq0wbfcb_ssZYh0U9OEJiV0yYsJD3MCF49QAunlVSfXCcV4Rs6fvCa1sAKFbC17AsK/s1600-h/cape_whale_watching.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321351868497241026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhmsbnogXu7ogXSV0WWUY2hYXn3dL7fMwoGzpKzgKtkHAB_tO5OCB5ki48kW0i4o-RU2VVCoEivRRq0wbfcb_ssZYh0U9OEJiV0yYsJD3MCF49QAunlVSfXCcV4Rs6fvCa1sAKFbC17AsK/s320/cape_whale_watching.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 239px" /></a>It will also quite likely alter the ecology of the Dyer Island Marine Sanctuary and the local spawning grounds and nurseries of economically important pelagic fisheries. Whether the Southern Right, Humpback, Bryde’s and Minke Whales that all come close inshore on the Agulhas Bank adjacent to Bantamsklip will still find it a hospitable environment to visit is still to be established. Further, given that this utility will be positioned at the southerly tip of Africa, and the nexus of the Cape Whale Route and the Cape Floral Kingdom it will, without doubt, adversely affect the tourism industry on which this region’s economy is based. The power lines are set to traverse major scenic corridors on the R326/R43 and areas of great scenic value such as the historic Stanford Village and Stanford Valley, 35 kilometres from the heart of Hermanus. Both scenic categories are surveyed heritage, scenic and landscape resources, underwritten and legislated upon in the Overstrand Heritage Survey. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJx1XiNiSQVKfuBwboN6ePgQm4SC1GbqHtBrWBzucPQfQgNj1mpOLFfv46PjeusTQW_U3FTlpYeOUZpd_LCi4JnWA3wye7B3zteliPE66fi-dAaslRJOp7CzcjqKst99FLXsEXylkwNzf/s1600-h/cape--whale-route.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321351882716746082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJx1XiNiSQVKfuBwboN6ePgQm4SC1GbqHtBrWBzucPQfQgNj1mpOLFfv46PjeusTQW_U3FTlpYeOUZpd_LCi4JnWA3wye7B3zteliPE66fi-dAaslRJOp7CzcjqKst99FLXsEXylkwNzf/s320/cape--whale-route.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 214px" /></a>According to the draft scoping report, ESKOM’s preferred route for the Bantamsklip Transmission Line, known as Alternative Route 2, will fatally dissect the unique Flower Valley and Baardskeerdersbos rural hamlet surroundings, with a giant pylon army and magnetic pollution as foretold in doomsday science fiction movies. Should you consider this mere hyperbole, visualise for a moment a swath of up to eight 80-meter tall power line towers covering a servitude width of 1.3km bestriding your neighbourhood – or these vulnerable heritage landscapes! Viewing all this with indifference, or seeing it as a platform for political patronage (construction contracts and real estate windfalls) – the local euphemism is “a growth opportunity” – or as a strategic imperative over which we have no control, is tantamount to suicide. Those interested in resisting this scheme should register as an Interested and Affected Party (I&AP for Transmission Lines) with Naledi Curran at NMA Effective Social Strategists, by email at naledic@nma.org.za or by fax to 086-6010381 or by telephone at 011-4476037. <ul><li>For a copy of the proposed nuclear power station EIA, contact Bongi at ACER (Africa) Environmental Management Consultants, at nuclear1@acerafrica.co.za or call him on 086 010 4958. </li></ul>

Eskom Nuclear Power Plant to occupy South Africa's Natural Heritage Site in Cape

Hello Nuclear. Goodbye the Cape Whale Route and the Fynbos Road – it was nice knowing you! Eskom is pushing ahead with plans for a new 4000 ...

12:00 PM

SA's future NOT positive due to "ineffective" governing

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqt1gEZ4UZ-Sl1htceq2SmF2KoDhveJ_XeJFxoam6S-HCsBZ1Y-ZHDukF4Ud5wonqtqu67s3b1LAIv8Xy6ps0TnJr42SkbnDiFiGk4viFcudJOzSP36do0oOwch1LESKIAO5L8Ql0MAKA/s1600-h/landclaims.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243437400990499794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqt1gEZ4UZ-Sl1htceq2SmF2KoDhveJ_XeJFxoam6S-HCsBZ1Y-ZHDukF4Ud5wonqtqu67s3b1LAIv8Xy6ps0TnJr42SkbnDiFiGk4viFcudJOzSP36do0oOwch1LESKIAO5L8Ql0MAKA/s400/landclaims.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Johannesburg - International credit rating agencies are seemingly getting more worried about where the SA economy and political situation are heading, although they are not openly expressing their concern yet. It now looks increasingly unlikely that SA's international credit ratings could be upgraded in the foreseeable future. Instead, the ratings are more likely to be downgraded, even if the process would be gradual. The international agency Fitch has already given an indication about its views on SA's future by downgrading its outlook from positive to stable. On face value, SA still has an investment rating of BBB+, but it could signify the start of a downgrade. The agencies are worried about political situation, with the current challenges to the law and property rights, but also structural problems in the economy which chould limit its growth potential. Eskom struggling? Any lowering of its ratings could have serious implications for the economy, because it could dampen the capital flow from overseas, which SA desperately need to finance its big current account deficit. It is particularly bad news for state institutions like Eskom and Transnet, which have to borrow overseas to finance big infrastructure programmes. There are already some indications that Eskom, whose own credit rating has already been lowered by Moody's will face an uphill battle to get the R150bn - which it need to borrow overseas to finance its expansion - at manageable interest rates. The problem is worsened by the international credit crisis, which makes financing more difficult and expensive to obtain. Tertius Smith, chief executive of Fitch in SA, says it isn't rating agencies role to express concern about government policies. But he referred to "ineffective" governing which undermines the economy's potential to grow at a faster pace. Also the restraints on South Africa's growth potential, like the widening deficit on the current account and the low levels of savings.

SA's future NOT positive due to "ineffective" governing

Johannesburg - International credit rating agencies are seemingly getting more worried about where the SA economy and political situation ar...

11:06 AM

Eskom Power Crisis: lack of skills another factor

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREnnjGwm41OuiV0cv5lRIFg8_CxXfRgzdvlrQBxjKLTpKm95Wu7joPXeRvgt6rrY9nlOOeviWj_L1pcDMKy3ackwWX0OWGMFS6j7kF4FOP5ovBZazwjnnm2diZaOnzurTnDF0RI2BG8g/s1600-h/school_sex.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239308573148546946" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjREnnjGwm41OuiV0cv5lRIFg8_CxXfRgzdvlrQBxjKLTpKm95Wu7joPXeRvgt6rrY9nlOOeviWj_L1pcDMKy3ackwWX0OWGMFS6j7kF4FOP5ovBZazwjnnm2diZaOnzurTnDF0RI2BG8g/s400/school_sex.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> The electricity industry has been hit by a "chronic" shortage of engineers, the SA Institute of Electrical Engineers said in Johannesburg on Tuesday. "Eskom's current status doesn't only involve power generation issues and the failure of government to recognise the power problem - we must also take into account that the engineering skills shortage has contributed to the power crisis," said the institute's Ian McKechnie. He was addressing a conference entitled "A Constructive Response to the Power Crisis from the Mining and Metallurgical Industry". One of the factors that had to be considered was apartheid-era education, where skills were disproportionately developed in the population. There was also a world-wide demand for engineers. Another concern was the "deficiencies in the present school system" and the low number of pupils with maths and science marks high enough to study engineering. He added that the USA produced 380 engineers per million people, China 225, India 95 and South Africa only 45. Furthermore, McKechnie said, traditional artisan training had collapsed and the Setas were not making a sufficient contribution. Levels of artisan training had dropped from around 30 000 registered artisan apprentices in 1975 to an estimated 3 000 in 2006 - a drop of ten times. McKechnie said that in order to produce more engineers, technologists and technicians, it was necessary to "feed more students into the tertiary education system". The availability of lecturers and tutors however remained a significant challenge. In the 2007 matric results, only 25 415 students passed higher grade mathematics and 28 122 passed higher grade science. "Of this number, only 8 000 got a C aggregate or higher in higher grade maths - and this was the typical entry level for a university engineering degree, McKechnie said. Restructuring the electricity distribution industry to deal with the shortage was not the answer, he said. "The current trend of outsourcing within the electricity distribution sector, whilst possibly being an effective short-term solution, does little to empower the network owner and enhances the risks of unreliability and failure in the longer term." - Sapa

Eskom Power Crisis: lack of skills another factor

The electricity industry has been hit by a "chronic" shortage of engineers, the SA Institute of Electrical Engineers said in Johan...

1:22 PM

R50 Billion Eskom BALLS UP!

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6PW4_4aP25BIxku6d5Q9e5famVNqsdOLYeN6pGVCylygWD6NdREJ15-px6_p-NbKOPRkH739dQ9gMRrsRC6MnFwWB6_BjB4YmUpOJRELf6Kon5_Mp5GlPe3WtDdU6KPo5801I7KWOrA/s1600-h/alecerwin.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5238775392989797474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy6PW4_4aP25BIxku6d5Q9e5famVNqsdOLYeN6pGVCylygWD6NdREJ15-px6_p-NbKOPRkH739dQ9gMRrsRC6MnFwWB6_BjB4YmUpOJRELf6Kon5_Mp5GlPe3WtDdU6KPo5801I7KWOrA/s400/alecerwin.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a> Johannesburg - The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Tuesday estimated the cost of the energy shortage to be about R50bn. Speaking at a conference on the mining and metallurgical industry's response to the power crisis, Nersa CEO Smunda Mokoena said the economic impact of load shedding had been costed at R75 rand per kWh. "The supply shortage caught South Africa by surprise," said Mokoena. A Nersa inquiry found that Eskom had responded appropriately and speedily to the power supply shortage towards the end of 2007 and going into 2008. But while Nersa was aware of low reserve margins, that the mothballed plant and low lead time open-cycle gas turbines were being commissioned, and that the low demand mid-summer period would be used for maintenance, the regulator was unaware of the increased unplanned outages and dwindling coal stocks leading up to the virtual blackout in January. What Nersa has identified is a potential conflict of interest between the generator of electricity and the system operator, which is effectively responsible for ensuring system security. "We are very sceptical that current procurement is being done by Eskom, not by government," said Mokoena. Procurement of generation capacity, including that from independent power producers and co-generation, should be managed and coordinated by a professional agent independent of Eskom, he said. "The sooner we establish an independent power procurer the better," Mokoena added.

R50 Billion Eskom BALLS UP!

Johannesburg - The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) on Tuesday estimated the cost of the energy shortage to be about R50bn....

2:41 AM

The Truth about South Africa

The Truth about South Africa

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9:36 AM

South Africa in a State of Disintegration

<img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230923112281822994" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWPKIDdxujgKMCnsGggtkszED7syBLY5WFARUIQqjMawD4TEWwRnrisw0E6JyeHKqhlVPmiiCue6GT7Dx53l176tshrX1XOo4_j7RTNlnabZwm5QdJNx8uaV6jYo4piAUUzLCxElsBdVA/s400/Monkey-Mad488%5B1%5D.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" />Discussions about the recent violence against foreigners have largely centred on the possibility of a third force, criminal elements and various government failures. What has not received adequate attention is the fact that the violence together with other signals, like rampant crime, corruption and the whole range of institutional failures - ESKOM being an example - are worrying signs that South Africa is in an advanced stage of disintegration. The Manuel-Mboweni boom, fuelled by tax cuts, low interest rates and a favourable commodity market, has for some time hindered us from giving due attention to the termites eating away at our institutional fabric. It is not surprising that these signs of disintegration are increasingly coming to the fore as the boom is coming to an end. The fact that the poor, for some years already the main victims of institutional breakdown, should be the first to show their frustrations should not surprise us either. To them the Manuel-Mboweni gamble, of going for growth at all cost, meant very little, because it hardly put a dent into unemployment. However, they are certainly feeling the hangover through rising inflation. Just the spark needed for frustrations to boil over, which were unfortunately directed at foreigners. The roots of South Africa's slide towards disintegration can ultimately be traced back to the ideas of the ruling elite and poor leadership. The ideas have been in head-on collision with the realities of modern South Africa, since the start of majority rule. The most prominent of these ideas are the doctrines around workers' rights, free trade, pan-African nationalism and transformation. The realities on the other hand are more complex. The ANC inherited from the Apartheid regime the most advanced economy and infrastructure on the African continent. These were held together by sophisticated systems administered and maintained by public and private institutions in which senior civil servants and businessmen carried with them the values, knowledge, skills and experience passed down from previous generations. These were their inheritance from their cultural links with the West. So although South Africa is on the African continent, as a modern state,"it is in fact the cultural product of the Western imagination that was for decades developed and held together by a tiny elite within the white minority. With fears of being numerically overwhelmed and belief in their cultural superiority, the white minority, for much of the 20th century, restricted the access of blacks to this advanced economy. Those that did participate were merely instruments within systems rather than the designers and controllers of systems. While the roots of the black majority harks back to the traditional economy with its limited division of labour, poverty together with the complex wants created by the information systems of the market meant that all the restrictions could not withstand the magnetism of this advanced economy. Ideas of segregation were finally thrown onto the scrapheap of history with the advent of majority rule. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VVpIL-t8AHTHOm7fAmvW-00OpU5ngMQ0_Vyw9h4XBlmSc1bxgOz5wcH5ekrCgliXdaZC3hMos8EOHskZaPMggneIH-P1AUdxBFYCSAjdjHF-K-I_7xVq8WJSlbD-_aiPgmop9vO2eLE/s1600-h/banana-republic.JPG"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mqVcxOf6cMIAONl2-CNiDl14K4IyluTde1lpQLVPZVYnCAUsVEgsOkhKbb7gtlIK-GrQ8NVTWoCHhkfr0Ro1Swbd9EEq280isgr36jLXaTvI9_KgLIpdMtUJsDHBYcU7WLSiiioUFuo/s1600-h/monkeybeer.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230928758958408610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9mqVcxOf6cMIAONl2-CNiDl14K4IyluTde1lpQLVPZVYnCAUsVEgsOkhKbb7gtlIK-GrQ8NVTWoCHhkfr0Ro1Swbd9EEq280isgr36jLXaTvI9_KgLIpdMtUJsDHBYcU7WLSiiioUFuo/s400/monkeybeer.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>The millions of black South Africans that have made their way to urban centres, in effect trying to integrate into the white man's world, were however faced with an extraordinary adjustment. Coming from rural areas with limited division of labour arranged around personal attachments, they were suddenly required to navigate a complex and impersonal economic system. In addition, this world, because of its extensive manipulation of nature, requires systematic responses to man-made stimuli. The new entrants were therefore expected to quickly acquire the values and skills, which normally takes years to acquire and only through the effective involvement of strong institutions. What was and still is required of them is nothing short of a revolution of the mind without the aid of effective support systems. The main task that befell the ANC in 1994 was to try and create the environment and support systems to help integrate the black majority into this advanced urban based economy. The ultimate barometer of their success was to be the unemployment rate. Effectively integrating the bulk of the population into urban areas is a task with which no political and economic elite in post-independence Africa has succeeded. Indeed, the disintegration of Zimbabwe can ultimately be traced to the inability of that country's elite to integrate the black majority into the urban economy after independence, despite massive spending on education. Things came to a head when unemployment passed the 60 percent mark. The ANC has failed dismally. The expanded unemployment rate hovers around 40 percent and is set to rise as the boom turns into a recession. It has also become increasingly clear that the ANC leadership never understood their task in the first place. The ruling elite have instead entertained the nation with ideas and policies that do not only hinder integration, but is destroying the very institutions that should be at the forefront of that integration. Just a year after coming to power the government in its infinite wisdom passed the biggest barrier to entry for the new arrivals, the Labour Relations Act of 1995. Convinced by vested interest about the need for exclusive rights for workers and the supposed exploitative tendencies of white business, the government, with little regard for the millions pouring into urban areas, decided to protect those already in work from the new competition. In a strange way some within organised business also benefited, because the Act gave ample scope for grand collusion. Not just does it provide for uniformity in wages and benefits within sectors, smaller firms can also be squeezed out by agreements unaffordable to them. The outcome is that big business became hesitant to hire and small business, being at the mercy of bargaining councils, struggled to survive. Firms that should be at the forefront of integrating the new arrivals were instead forced to become capital intensive thus reducing labour input. The architect of all this madness was of course Tito Mboweni then Minister of Labour. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUTzc6a2siCZLT3ddZ8x_q6xWTZnLmbpxyHNJ47L1_Zp70QwzvBix-C4Q9JR7ncp18cWrrTn4HfRrpG2a0Oyv1hZEiQ41dzpxsvZbfP6wTy-3tGLpB_dt_EGnmp9CNLlbgcIvPHd66t_0/s1600-h/made_in_china2.jpg"></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaAg8yHzjAUp1YneCtldniVoqI5B5cDI4HrgtRF9RYoPHtOrTkXn-eyN2cvmuQakfBM9HOIF0szSxpRVJwObe8Phj9r_0SK8VAGlc4BXOie49cNVogp5CntugxZXMvFiSEtrcOZw5Gzlg/s1600-h/china-africa.jpg"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvPur4ojNErEC4wxnKcwHX5pGGARxNwzDhkXV3D216mlRsd6jTzObeGRldVT266x1dIKrVAVYzYKDcq9G6fA92flS32Ix8r6o46_lrzMqS-JJ5a5IcFw7Ae9n1w0fNyaPoti77neLVDw/s1600-h/made_in_china1.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230929265925881330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwvPur4ojNErEC4wxnKcwHX5pGGARxNwzDhkXV3D216mlRsd6jTzObeGRldVT266x1dIKrVAVYzYKDcq9G6fA92flS32Ix8r6o46_lrzMqS-JJ5a5IcFw7Ae9n1w0fNyaPoti77neLVDw/s400/made_in_china1.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>While Mboweni was putting up barriers to entry, Trevor Manuel, Minister of Trade and Industry at the time, came under the spell of free marketeers. After decades of protection, Manuel decided that some of South Africa's most labour intensive industries, like textiles and footwear, should feel the heat of international competition. With little time given for adjustment and a hostile labour regime these industries were simply thrown to the wolves. Foreign and especially Chinese competitors took over the domestic market with massive job losses. Industries that since the dawn of industrialisation have been at the forefront of integrating rural migrants into urban economies were left devastated. While these ministers were falling for ideas that restricted the demand for labour, Thabo Mbeki's accession to the presidency brought a renewed intoxication with African identity and solidarity, which were to have an impact on the supply of labour. One of the results of this intoxication was that national borders came to be seen as little more than colonial creations. First the electric fencing was removed then it was the turn of the Army who were replaced by an already overstretched and incompetent police. Protecting the borders was in effect left to crocodiles in the Limpopo River and lions in Kruger Park. Already unable to absorb South Africans into the formal labour market the country was soon faced with the prospect of having to absorb millions of refugees and economic migrants fleeing institutional break-down within their own societies. Of all the calamities that could have befallen South Africa's poor none is comparable to the range of policies that falls under that ideological umbrella called transformation. Sadly, while the poor is trying to enter the white man's world transformation is destroying it. When the ANC came to power they looked upon the sophisticated state left fay the Apartheid regime as though it was the product of nature and thus their African inheritance. They simply failed to acknowledge that this advanced state was not the product of the African imagination, but that of a small elite within the white minority. Like a village chief distributing land among his closest relatives and supporters the ANC under the slogan of transformation deployed cadres to public institutions with little regard for the values, knowledge, skills and experience on which these institutions depend for their survival. White managers were simply hounded out and with them went stores of institutional memory, acquired over decades. It did not take long for institutions, which use to function almost mechanically, to operate like patients with Alzheimers. Vital institutions, like the police, soon found it difficult to perform even basic functions. Within this environment statistics became a curse. Transformation's emphasis on quantity instead of quality means that institutions are in need of transformation if blacks are underrepresented, particularly at management level. Institutions dominated by whites should therefore be transformed. With transformed institutions lacking the conservative restraint normally accompanying experience they soon became the hotbed for the most off-the-wall ideas imaginable. Nowhere was that more prevalent than in the Education ministry. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV3xJ8ROPWAnuEImqiKwWJBf_haDEJws6uflQMCWmCpyd78yMxkYuH6xAs9ZyhKloJx7ATKL0-JfIRZ8CmJh1IwfunGuwJd9_Ubh2bIonznwL__3TbnHr-QHxQiaZXSVdkUF7DQZ1DN4/s1600-h/libb4ed.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230787827152231666" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgV3xJ8ROPWAnuEImqiKwWJBf_haDEJws6uflQMCWmCpyd78yMxkYuH6xAs9ZyhKloJx7ATKL0-JfIRZ8CmJh1IwfunGuwJd9_Ubh2bIonznwL__3TbnHr-QHxQiaZXSVdkUF7DQZ1DN4/s400/libb4ed.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>For nearly two decades prior to majority rule black education, already the victim of Apartheid, was marred by unrest and a philosophy epitomised by the slogan "liberation before education." What was required after 1994 was to restore order and discipline as well as policies that would raise standards to levels already present at white schools. The main policy objective should have been to instil the values, knowledge and skills needed for an advanced economy, especially for the first generation of black South Africans With full access to it. These institutions should have been the main instruments catapulting the children of rural migrants into the white man's world. Tragically the transformed Ministry of Education became the hotbed for radicals. Lacking understanding of realities on the ground Ministers Bengu and Asmal introduced reforms, advocated by liberals whose faith in human nature meant that their ideas were founded on the belief that values are subjective. In other words, individuals should decide their own values. Instead of values, knowledge and skills - the products of centuries of human ingenuity -, being instilled with almost military discipline, pupils, it was argued, must discover it themselves within an environment devoid of authoritarian pressures. It did not take long for schools to ask for metal detectors and security guards. Sadly, most schools in the townships have been further ruined by these reforms. Parents, who can afford it, simply send their children to former white schools for a decent education. However, even these are starting to feel the heat of transformation. Higher education also became the victim of radical ideas. Teachers' Training Colleges, for decades important vehicles to catapult those from poor communities up the social ladder, were simply closed down. Instead, of dealing with dysfunctional black institutions the ministry simply decided to merge many of them with previously white institutions, thereby spreading their problems like a disease. Even in higher education statistics became a curse. Pressured to increase black participation, institutions, fearing huge failure rates and thus losing subsidy, simply forced academics to increase the "throughput" rate. Pass rates in higher education, as is the case with the matric, have become gigantic exercises in deception. Transformation wherever it has been applied has been an unmitigated disaster. Much of the sophisticated systems that used to be administered and maintained by that tiny elite within the white minority seem to have simply evaporated. Formally respected institutions, like ESKOM and the Land bank, have been ruined by incompetence, corruption and maladministration. Not a day goes by without South Africans being informed about corruption in some public entity, The complete lack of accountability in effect means that migrants trying to integrate into this sophisticated society are seeing it disintegrate before their very eyes. All that they hear from the politicians is that there is lack of capacity and thus service delivery, while the rich simply turn to the private sector - still controlled by the white minority - for security, education and health care. The millions that have tried to enter the white man's world have been left desperate. Daily glimpses of it on television have merely added to their frustration. Job scarcity has devastated family life, already left fragile by Apartheid. Not only are parents unable to transfer values and skills needed for an advanced economy, they have been unable to acquire it themselves. Family life also has to cope with the destructiveness of modern popular culture with its emphasis on the gratification of the senses. With a range of institutions, like the family and schools, malfunctioning, together with the devastating impact of AIDS. 'urban life for these migrants has become a Hobbesian world in which life is "nasty, brutish and short." <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLkT8jVAVQIWe9WRwf8M3Jccq9f6xm02sxyvyCPj-CT4yqR2Nnt7cvWatVjkmblNk97_V9UU7_DMZV5GGyAejzV7U3ufVTTSjybkHg57BCzC2ksNik94r8oCZL3-zlGtxlig7xqW-7Ac/s1600-h/monkey_thinking.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5230935077722682978" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoLkT8jVAVQIWe9WRwf8M3Jccq9f6xm02sxyvyCPj-CT4yqR2Nnt7cvWatVjkmblNk97_V9UU7_DMZV5GGyAejzV7U3ufVTTSjybkHg57BCzC2ksNik94r8oCZL3-zlGtxlig7xqW-7Ac/s400/monkey_thinking.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>There can be no doubt that Thabo Mbeki is in an intelligent man, indeed some boast that he is blessed with native intelligence. Nevertheless his behaviour in office has put great doubt about the way that intelligence was cultivated. It seems as though, like many of the migrants to urban areas, he has yet to undergo that revolution of the mind so as to efficiently navigate and protect an advanced and impersonal society. President Mbeki it seems is unable to distinguish between a person - who within the history of a nation is but like a fly of a summer - and a principle on which institutions and ultimately the future of nations depend. When forced to in effect choose between President Mugabe and the principles of private property and democracy on which the whole of Zimbabwe depend, he settled for his friend Mugabe; when forced to choose between Manto Shabalala-Msimang and the principles of accountability that underpin the health system, he chose his friend Manto; and when he had to choose between Police Commissioner Jackie Selebe and the principles that arc the foundations of the justice system, he chose his friend Selebe. All these, coupled with his questioning of mainstream scientific views around HIV and AIDS, put serious doubt about the way that native intelligence was cultivated. His alma mater Sussex University has a lot to answer for while South Africans can only hope and pray for leadership that will stop this slide towards total disintegration. Devon Windvogel Lecturer in Economics and Economic History University of KwaZulu-Natal

South Africa in a State of Disintegration

Discussions about the recent violence against foreigners have largely centred on the possibility of a third force, criminal elements and var...

2:14 PM

Eskom phones in with latest ransom demands

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBAXceKVA6noo1gmvcxW_Mc9K8kIOJq0FShcZdq62pSLXrYcnSXHg6UVnw65nuA4ugfDMPj0Uqkt4kYczaoy5aBDFInxulYRNaX0eYh5hNy7qzYuzly4gqdSkuhtOtR6zqSljojLRBtI/s1600-h/eskom.gif"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5228561903778497954" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGBAXceKVA6noo1gmvcxW_Mc9K8kIOJq0FShcZdq62pSLXrYcnSXHg6UVnw65nuA4ugfDMPj0Uqkt4kYczaoy5aBDFInxulYRNaX0eYh5hNy7qzYuzly4gqdSkuhtOtR6zqSljojLRBtI/s400/eskom.gif" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>PRETORIA. After months of inactivity and minimal load-shedding, rogue utility company Eskom has come out of hiding to deliver its latest demands. According to a government spokesman, Eskom called in using a disposable SIM card, demanding R5 billion in unmarked R50 notes and threatening to black out the country again if it saw any police at the drop-off point. Energy analysts and government investigators say they were just minutes away from locating and pinning down the elusive electricity provider earlier this year, after it kept shutting down the national power grid while providing increasingly unlikely explanations. But a high-speed car-chase in the badlands around Megawatt Park in March ended in failure as the fleeing Eskom threw a blunt object – Alec Erwin – into the path of pursuers, causing a blowout and ending all hopes of a speedy arrest. However this morning's call by Eskom has given investigators fresh hope. According to the spokesman Eskom had sounded "a little older and a little more tired" than since the last time it called in with demands. "The caller simply said, 'This is Eskom. If you ever want to see your television again, or have sex with the lights on, leave R5 billion in unmarked R50 bills in the boot of a rental car in the parking garage of O.R. Tambo International.'" Meanwhile bounty hunter Boudewijn Boje says he is surprised to hear from Eskom again. "When the trail went cold we thought it was all over," he told journalists this morning. "When we went over Alec Erwin, and we looked down and checked his little comb-over sticking out from under the smashed axel, I really thought Eskom had got away with the perfect crime." He says he can't understand why Eskom would try to wring even more money out of consumers after having "pulled off the heist of the century" in February when Trevor Manuel announced his national budget for the year. "It was awesome," said Boje. "You black out the country, demand billions from government to switch the lights back on, and they pay, just like that. "And nobody asked any questions. Nobody said, 'Wait a sec, china, how come the power is back on? How come we haven't had load-shedding now, in the coldest part of the year, with Koeberg down, and no new power stations built?' "It was flippin' genius, china. "They turned an on-off switch into a license to print money. It makes you flippin' proud to be a South African." Source: <a href="http://www.hayibo.com/">www.hayibo.com</a>

Eskom phones in with latest ransom demands

PRETORIA. After months of inactivity and minimal load-shedding, rogue utility company Eskom has come out of hiding to deliver its latest dem...

3:04 PM

'Real causes' of Eskom crisis revealed

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y9uYVbPhNIILmfPwtFPD180bk0OoTuFC3Qu1mLjrLBjV2VVDW8V-Rkz-mK1kP1Uwms09nticvYP7yLGlD92ZHG_BSFfFnQ614Nzz2exo3QSsETGEjc9djneKpFGu6d8ghuxdNNCEYWE/s1600-h/eskom+soccer%5B1%5D.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5223251514674931970" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0y9uYVbPhNIILmfPwtFPD180bk0OoTuFC3Qu1mLjrLBjV2VVDW8V-Rkz-mK1kP1Uwms09nticvYP7yLGlD92ZHG_BSFfFnQ614Nzz2exo3QSsETGEjc9djneKpFGu6d8ghuxdNNCEYWE/s400/eskom+soccer%5B1%5D.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>A new report lays the blame for the country's electricity crisis squarely at the door of Eskom and the government and calls for heads to roll in both sectors. The report brings together the opinions and recommendations of 50 government leaders and businessmen on the crisis and outlines proposals to resolve it. Among these is Eskom chief executive officer, Jacob Maroga, who called the energy crunch a "five- to eight-year emergency". He also acknowledged that the utility could not pull off its turnaround plan in its current form. "We cannot assume that the current institutions, in their current form, will be able to get the job done," Maroga is quoted as saying in a summary of the report released on Sunday. The report also calls for the electricity industry to be overhauled by opening it up to the private sector and dispels "myths" about the source of the crisis. Perhaps the most well known of these was Eskom's claim that it had not anticipated the rapid expansion of the economy. The "real causes" of the crisis include: the government's refusal to allow Eskom to build new power stations, which wore out existing plants that were forced to cope with the rising demand. Other causes highlighted were a lack of capacity and "serious leadership failure" within Eskom and the government. "During the discussions it emerged that poor decisions and miscalculations were among the most important causes of the crisis," said Ann Bernstein, executive director of the Centre for Development and Enterprise, who edited the report. But that is not to say that Eskom was a "passive victim of government's poor decisions". Eskom failed to persuade the government to sanction new power stations and favoured affirmative action rather than attracting and retaining valuable skills, the report says. It also did not do enough to extend the long-term contracts that had ensured cheap coal supplies and instead increasingly sourced it from small, inexperienced and expensive suppliers for the sake of BEE compliance. The report puts forward three immediate priorities to secure electricity supplies and other longer term solutions. In the short term, it proposes that Eskom increase electricity prices, secure coal supplies and contract independent power producers, without which "the blackouts of January 2008 and the ‘load-shedding’ that followed will be just a mild foretaste of what is to come". "Without private sector generation, the lights will be going out for hours every day by 2010, and South Africa can abandon any hope of reaching its growth targets and development goals," says the report. Longer term, it suggests that a special electricity portfolio, headed by a senior politician, be created; that those found to be responsible for the crisis resign or be fired; that Eskom recruit badly needed skilled staff, without being too focused on affirmative action. <a href="mailto:gershwin.wanneburg@inl.co.za">gershwin.wanneburg@inl.co.za</a>

'Real causes' of Eskom crisis revealed

A new report lays the blame for the country's electricity crisis squarely at the door of Eskom and the government and calls for heads to...

7:30 AM

Eskom hands out fat performance bonuses

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK2fkhFe_INSPaRg8-P1q8Yrsx1zP9G9ehtdZqt6Mlao9LmafNTuP1IdMpXKziijGwrkMoLFX8-3dZE-VgAxYFzSHUzAIeHI8NsNPgaPwzuTNTxA3LHGNpJvdmLVA_gg1mxXK5uvMEik/s1600-h/eskomhelpdesk.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222634024947985346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpK2fkhFe_INSPaRg8-P1q8Yrsx1zP9G9ehtdZqt6Mlao9LmafNTuP1IdMpXKziijGwrkMoLFX8-3dZE-VgAxYFzSHUzAIeHI8NsNPgaPwzuTNTxA3LHGNpJvdmLVA_gg1mxXK5uvMEik/s400/eskomhelpdesk.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Eskom employees have been awarded lucrative incentive bonuses and salary increases that will leave them overjoyed - and consumers seething. This revelation comes barely a month after Eskom was granted a 13.3% tariff increase in addition to the 14.2% already approved in December. Industry sources told the Saturday Star that some staff stood to receive incentive bonuses as high as 23% of their annual packages. "Workers are delighted about the incentive bonuses, which they thought they were not going to get this year," said one source. According to an internal memorandum sent to staff, a revised 10-12% wage increase across the board effective from July 1 was agreed on and signed with the unions this week. The document states that the increases are in acknowledgment and appreciation of the dedication and hard work by employees. One unionist, who did not want to be identified, said ordinary employees who met their productivity targets by making sure the utility had enough electricity to meet its customers' demand were fully entitled to these "productivity bonuses". "Employees have an agreement with Eskom that if they produce enough capacity to meet demand, they would be rewarded with productivity bonuses," said the unionist. <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIKD9WxtqijdGarqa2pBlNS7eJBgTbxV6P_t0B-ynw9BIv5f3Ra2vVjca8LXqP0xhcj0T0jXwj_cArBn28DKbzrueH_ImOWKTl9yf2f0X1ILEP_9AkdrkMvPS2Uu0ignesDA6HioPt3U/s1600-h/eskomfzjm.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5222627725154205394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCIKD9WxtqijdGarqa2pBlNS7eJBgTbxV6P_t0B-ynw9BIv5f3Ra2vVjca8LXqP0xhcj0T0jXwj_cArBn28DKbzrueH_ImOWKTl9yf2f0X1ILEP_9AkdrkMvPS2Uu0ignesDA6HioPt3U/s400/eskomfzjm.jpg" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" /></a>Eskom spokesperson Fani Zulu said the new pay agreement included a 10% incentive bonus for all employees besides senior executives. "The performance appraisal system is a long- established … [Eskom] practice," he said. "Every employee has his or her performance contract [on which the awarding of bonuses is based]". Zulu added there were different performance indicators for Eskom and its divisions that relate to how much is allocated to each unit for incentives. Last month, Eskom CEO Jacob Maroga said he would not accept any bonus that might be due to him. This, he said, was a signal of accepting full responsibility for the utility's difficulties. Other Eskom executives were also said to have agreed to take only 50% of what was due to them in terms of their key performance indicators. Zulu said this was still the case with all of Eskom's executives.

Eskom hands out fat performance bonuses

Eskom employees have been awarded lucrative incentive bonuses and salary increases that will leave them overjoyed - and consumers seething. ...

3:14 PM

South Africa P.I.G.