Eskom investigation and repression
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008Following an article on IOL questioning whether the price increases were due to a lack of money or a lack of management, we hear today that the National Electricity Regulator (Nersa) is officially investigating Eskom.
The focus of the investigation is regarding the January load shedding and their unplanned maintenance of their generators. If they are found to violate their license agreement, they could face fines of up to R2-million per day.
In addition, they will be looking at the public submissions on Eskom’s application for the 53% price increase. Nersa is expected to make their decision by 6 June.
After speaking to a number of people, although they welcome the investigation, they do not feel confident that the truth will emerge or be made public. I must admit that I do not have great confidence either. We all know that public submissions these days have pretty much been disregarded - just look at the road name change fiasco’s in KZN.
One of the biggest problems these days is the publics lack of confidence that their voices are being heard. People are feeling that they are being ignored and that the media in particular are not fighting for the issues very strongly. People also feel that the powers that be just shove through their agenda whether we like it or not. I totally agree.
It is about time that government and public bodies realise that they are meant to be the servants of the people. They are meant to represent the people of their constituency and to fight for the things that those people want. They are not there to ignore the people and do as they please. As soon as they ignore the people they are meant to represent, we have ceased to be a proper democracy and moved over into the realms of repression. Isn’t it funny that this repression is a communist idea and most of the government are communist sympathizers?
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