ANC's Thatcherism responsible for Eskom load shedding -- Cosatu


	ANC's Thatcherism responsible for Eskom load shedding -- Cosatu

hayesstw

1-19-2008 12:35 AM

359 views

tags:

eskom, electricity, power cuts, privatisation, privatization, load shedding, thabo mbejki, anc

hayesstw says:

Cosatu has drawn attention to one aspect of the electricity supply crisis that hasn't received much attention in the media.

Cosatu does not blame Eskom management, but the government's mania for privatisation. And if that is true, then the heads have already rolled -- at the ANC conference in December.

And then it is just a question whether wiser heads replace them.

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Cosatu, however, said Eskom was not to blame for the crisis.</DIV>
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"They warned the government years ago that they needed money to invest in new power stations, and applied to the government for this.</DIV>
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"But the government refused to provide the money, which President Mbeki has now admitted and apologised for," said Craven.</DIV>
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Because the government was set on privatising Eskom and other public utilities, and selling them off to the highest bidder, they had made the supplier inefficient.</DIV>
</blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?from=rss_News&set_id=1&click_id=79&art_id=nw20080118141319526C291829"><DIV>Cosatu consistently opposed privatisation precisely because we insisted that it must be a national service, efficiently providing secure and affordable power to the people and to industry."</DIV>
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Craven said this could never be achieved by a utility that was motivated to maximise its profits.</DIV>
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"We demand that the government and industry now speed up the process of providing Eskom with the money they need for capital investment, so that we can bring an end to the crisis as quickly as possible."</DIV>
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