The dark days of load-shedding made an unwelcome return recently, albeit under very different circumstances.
In 2014, the last time the country experienced prolonged and critical power outages, it came down to a lack of generating capacity.
Demand routinely exceeded supply and so to keep the national grid up and running, or limping as it were, Eskom implemented scheduled cuts, usually at two hours a time, occasionally more.
Although various factors played their part, the lack of maintenance at many of our power plants led to the crisis.
Ordinary people suffered along with big industry. In time the situation “normalised”, which is to say poor management prevailed, just with the lights on.
The state capturers soon entered the frame and went to work, emptying Eskom’s coffers by filling their own.
Now, under President Cyril Ramaphosa, the board and executive have changed, giving Eskom a slightly better shot at survival. But the odds are stacked against the state monopoly.
It is highly geared, meaning it is living off debt, borrowing – according to new CEO Phakamani Hadebe – to pay off its loans.Operating costs are sky-high while revenue is under pressure, a bad situation without any quick fix, given poor economic growth and a workforce holding all the cards.
Current wage negotiations have, if nothing else, shown who is really in charge.
The government has climbed down from its, quite frankly, reasonable offer of 0%, offering something closer to inflation just to get back to the negotiating table.
The reality is that Eskom cannot afford even a percentage point increase. Someone ultimately has to pay for it.
We see this going one of two ways: either the demands are covered by further, significant tariff hikes, or the unsustainable labour force at Eskom gets a generous haircut.
After the last skirmish, it will take a stiff backbone to do the necessary and pare back the number of employees.
For the sake of this country though, it, and more, has to happen. Telkom did it. So can Eskom.