As the May 29 election approaches Eskom, the national electricity utility, appears to be going on what looks like a determined drive to be as cheerful as possible as often as possible. Twice in as many weeks it has claimed to have definitively turned the corner and that its energy availability factor (EAF, the percentage of generating capacity actually generating) has turned positive.

That this is just not in the least bit true seems not to bother Eskom at all. It reported on February 22 that “year-on-year from January 2023 to January 2024, the year-to-date EAF shows a positive trend, moving from 50% to 55% an increase of 5%”...