Cape Town – Former South African President Thabo Mbeki believes that there was a deliberate and systematic effort to undermine key institutions in the country, such as Eskom, resulting in widespread and intentional power cuts.
Speaking at a dialogue hosted by the Thabo Mbeki African School of Public and International Affairs, he claimed that this orchestrated collapse of institutions began around 2008, shortly after he was ousted from power by Jacob Zuma.
“The mines closed for a whole week. It was a serious crisis,” Mbeki said.
Mbeki argued that the decline of institutions like Eskom, Transnet, the SA Police Service, the National Prosecuting Authority, and the SA Revenue Services was not solely due to greed and corruption, but rather a deliberate attack on the state.
MBEKI: SARS AND ESKOM DELIBERATELY DESTROYED
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He Says Baine trained Tom Moyane to destroy SARS and there are people out to destroy the democratic… pic.twitter.com/rdzKcXurle
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He said the argument was that Eskom had told the government in 1998 that there must be investment in new generation capacity and infrastructure.
“Government didn’t listen, hence the blackout in January 2008. That story was false. That story was cooked up. The reason there was a shutdown is because the people in charge of the power stations didn’t do what they supposed to do which was to replenish coal,” Mbeki told delegates.
He also attributed the return of load shedding after the departure of former Eskom CEO Brian Molefe to inadequate maintenance by the new management.
Mbeki further linked black economic empowerment (BEE) policies to the electricity crisis, using the example of the Kusile power station.
He claimed that Eskom’s insistence on involving a BEE partner in the construction of certain units led to delays and ultimately the incomplete status of the power station.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
