Eskom upheaval: The case against Maroga

actually sounds like Maroga and Godsell did the right thing here. They both put their ideas on the table, and offered to resign if the board felt appropriate. Well done to them both for acting with some maturity. It's rare these deays.

I have a strong feeling that if the dirt on the SABC ran into the millions, it will pale into insignificance when we see the Eskom billions. We as the public have right to know how our money is spent.

maroga rejects the olsen report on tha basis that “White supervision is a phenomenon that derives from our past of racial segregation and racial hierarchy. This phenomenon is based on the view that, without white supervision, blacks by themselves are not able to lead and achieve anything of significance.” ??

well, it certainly seems like the options are as follows: hire white people to do the job properly, which clearly maroga did not do, or let the parastatal go into further losses like 2-bn per day. my tax money.

and here we must be politically correct ?? is being politically correct more important, or is destroying the country more important ?

eskom and all the other parastatals, and the government, need more white people, it is that simple.

this mentality of "we can do everything without whites" is destroying our country: here we have an exact and clear and compelling example. what are the politicians going to do about that ? nothing, they rather let malema loose, because they want the votes.

is there anyone who will stand up and do the right thing for their country here ?

If Mr Maroga and his friends cannot accept white supervision, they should look at alternatives such as Singapore supervision, or Korean supervision or Japanese supervision. Because one thing is absolutely clear - with Mr Maroga and his friends, there is a truely desperate need for supervision.

I want to congratulate M&G for NOT quoting Malema as the SABC did last night. We don't need to hear him opining on every single thing that happens in the country.

as a country we have to pay the same price that Japan is paying for our coal (a resource that God gave to this part of our world) to generate electricity and grow our economy. The privatisation of Iscor, Eskom, etc after 1994 meant that those that benefitted during aprtheid continued to do so. We have to thank aprtheid for some of the challenges blocking industrial growth in the country today. We need to take back control and rule with authority otherwise the boeremag and the engelsemag will continue to undermine progress in this country.

This is clearly a black bashing exercise. Jimmy Manye, Maroga and Julius have enlightened us that there is no such thing as an incompetent black manager. Hard evidence of incompetence should immediately be rejected especially if a white person has been involved in the criticism - at any stage. All criticism against any black person are the result of a white conspiracy. Period. So there, now you know. Oh, and beware: a black criticising a black is a coconut. Priority advice for Eskom: “transformation” first, power supply issues are secondary. And refrain from looking up the word "transformation” in any dictionary. We the comrades have assigned a new meaning to this word.

What are the odds of this being turned into another black vs. white issue? Olsen is white, Godsell is white, Moraga black.
Get ready for months of skullduggery, mudslinging, racial accusations and poltical interference from all the usual suspects.
And we electricity users will once again foot the bill for all of it.

Kubo Maqabane ... "We need to take back control and rule with authority otherwise the boeremag and the engelsemag will continue to undermine progress in this country."

What an incredibly stupid statement!

An article with nothing but Maroga bashing......may the media do the right thing for a change and actually let the person defend himself???? As far as I'm concerned, there's no story until the likes of Godsell(what a strange surname) and Maroga tell the public what really happened, or atleast when they answer to all these things. Until then this all seems like a witch hunt rather than an informative article

We have not seen the end of this fiasco. I fear Godsell and his board will find there are no honour amongst thieves. See: http://letterdash.com/g.annandale/malema-fool-or-force

erm...Kubo Maqabane, the government IS the sole shareholder of Eskom

GEEZ! I'm so tired of incompetence...and god help us if its a whitey that criticizes anything...if its another whitey getting lashed its fine, but god forbid its an African, then the whitey must be racist!! eish...I'm sick of it, if you are incompetent it shouldn't matter if its a whitey or any other race that criticizes you!! take responsibility & accountability! for once!!! Eskom's state of affairs speaks for itself, and all moroga can do is blame the whiteys, again!! instead of taking ACTION to fix the myriad of issues within the institution...he's a pnut!

I have been against payments of hefty bonuses to the CEO in these economic trying times.I am however shocked that there are some people that think Mr Maroga has done terrible job in his two years at the helm of Eskom.I also find it disturbing that all the problems of Eskom are blamed on one man who found the parastatal battling.

The Chairperson is a funny character whom I am sure most of us will call for his head too. He announced the resignation of Mr Maroga to the staff,called a press conference and cancel at the 11th hour without getting the media and the public to understand what the situation is. He is also said not to have contacted the shareholder about the matter.

The BMF and other interest groups must wake up and start support initiatives aimed at supporting our colleagues who are always labelled as incompetents and responsible for all the failures of the system.The world is developing at a fast pace and it is difficult to run any institution without some challenges along the way.The level of service delivery and expectation has since trippled from 1994 as service is to be delivered to whole lot as compared to pre-1994 where services were channeled to few townships with minority of the SA population.

Why oh why do these black so called business leaders always play the race card to cover their incompetence? I quote from the report above words attributed to Maroga - “White supervision is a phenomenon that derives from our past of racial segregation and racial hierarchy. This phenomenon is based on the view that, without white supervision, blacks by themselves are not able to lead and achieve anything of significance.”

Surely he just proven what he states is a white belief system?

If the shoe fits Maroga, wear it! If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen but for God's sake, take responsibility like a man and stop blaming everyone but yourself. And keep your black racism out of business. We've had enough problems in this country due to racist attitudes without you adding to them.

What an unholy cock-up ...Cadre employment!!
And any comment re their ...sheer incompetence ..then ,"The old racial card" is played..yet again! And the rest of the "sheep"..continue to bleet away..and support them to the hilt !!
When will they learn !?
??Only after they have wrecked and bankrupted the whole country ..by their sheer incompetence,stupidity and arrogance??
Hopefully, the "Tipping Point"..is getting closer.

Eskom is a very important institution in SA, consequently anybody who chooses to accept the CEO job must expect this type of treatment. I guess he can take solace in the fact that the mess at Eskom is not entirely of his making.

But a very disturbing trend here: SAA, Eskom, Transnet, and previously Telkom. Very important institutions in the economic development of this country but with the leaderships in shambles. Is this perhaps a clear sign of unwanted political inteference? And maybe a little bit of evidence that the idea of nationalisation is simply ridiculous? Just a thought..

So Moroga did not accept or act on the Olsen report because it was compile by a white person. If that is his management style then I can only say good riddance.

Good management faces up to real issues and takes appropriate action to fix problems and deliver solutions. If it revolves around a political agenda then it is only a question of time before the shit hits the fan. It is not surprising that the parastatals have descended into such a mess. With incompetent and inept management structures it is only a recipe for disaster. And now they want to nationalize the mines! That will just be more chaos in the making leading to a trail of destruction.

White, Black, shut the hell up you fascists! The people that "actually" fought for this country are sick of your bigotry and playing victim. Now lets get a competent person regardless of creed to get Eskom back in shape.

This is the beginning of big shit. There is too many institutions to name. SABC, Landbank, Ithala Bank, SAA, Denel and about 95% of the municipalities who are in financial distres. Government cannot bail out all these entities.We will end up as a second Zimbabwe.
There is only about R5 million tax payers in South Africa. We are born free , but taxed to death. This issue had nothing to do with apartheid but people that cannot do the job. One day these people will say - "Our great parents use to drive big black beautiful cars - what went wong? "

Once upon a time the Afrikaners ran ESKOM. It worked beautifully as everything was well-planed and organised with a lot of thought. Electricity supply was cheap and consistent. They started bringing light to the poorest of the country.
Then one day in 1994 the ANC took over management of the country, and started getting rid of the grey-bearded Afrikaners at ESKOM as they had no faith in the white people's ability to run anything. They also needed to give high-paying jobs to their friends because they knew black people are just so much better at running things than whites.
Well, since then ESKOM has been effectively run into the ground, and we will have to pay a lot more for electricity even though it is in short supply. The government then made a big mistake and appointed a white racist to chair the board of ESKOM. He erroneously pointed out the weaknesses in the management of the utility; he should have known that blacks are not accountable for what they do because they are well-connected and because they are so good even though they don't have to prove it nor listen to advise from white people. All the black people are angry with him, and their brilliant leader Julius is calling him a "white rrrrrrrracist".
Now, all the white people want to leave ESKOM because they feel guilty for not having had blind faith in the ability of black people even though they don't have to prove that they are so good since it is a cultural thing.
In the meantime, the grey beards of the Afrikaners who previously ran ESKOM have now turned white, and they are ensuring that people in other parts of the world have a consistent and affordable electricity supply although they don't really know what they are doing.
And sometime in future but long before Jesus comes, Jacob Maroga's and Julius Malema's great-grandchildren will listen to the following story by candle light by one of their aunties:
"Once upon a time there was a strange white tribe, the Afrikaners, who ran ESKOM ..."

Jim Laubsher - If the shoe fits Maroga, wear it! If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen but for God's sake, take responsibility like a man and stop blaming everyone but yourself.
I agree with you on this one.

My brother was not forced at gun point to become a CEO of such a big organisation. Furthermore, he worked as MD of the same organisation so therefore, he should have been privy to the issues of Eskom.

The buck will have to stop somewhere and if you're a CEO it stops with you. He is insulting his intelligence by having the likes of Malema defending him.

We built a Rolls Royce of power systems but even a Rolls Royce needs maintenance.
To run SA you need what was in the heads of the people who were moved out to make way for the new "enfranchised", not what was in their wallets. They've gone now and the new managers have to run the machine, and they're unable to. Bugger!
Imagine if the call had been "stand next to the white man and learn everything he knows, so that one day you can take over and do it better"
Capitalism is good because it makes profits that can be taxed. The more tax the more that can be spent on social programs. Kill the capitalists and the income source dries up
Viva capitalism

Show me the “I take responsibly – attitude” of an CEO of a company and you can have the 5 Mil a year – but any CEO blaming anything and all except himself has no back-bone of integrity or just plain a bad character en should never be in the position of HEAD of Eskom, SABC, Government…

Come on South Africa ----
Government Heads, Municipality Managers & Mayors, CEO’s please have some BACK-BONE, show INTEGRIRTY and CHARACTER …
– take RESPONSIBLITY of your own departments and companies…

Unfortunately the facts are : most of the institutions named above that are battling or down the tubes were initiated by the europeans, most of which were fired from their jobs in the interests of affirmative action despite these replacement folk being either un trained or having some sort of track record in the various industrys. Eskom pre 1994 was already arguing for expansion to meet demand - that is a hell of a long time ago - the response by government was to mothball power stations! Why have they not made sure that the existing stations have an adequate supply of coal and why have they refused to bring the dormant stations on line? For a CEO [don't care what color he/she is] to not address his job and take proper advice from 'experts in energy' is not just incompetent but racist and at the end of the day criminal. Eskom is the one holding back progress and by definition of ownership, so is the government. To fire those who do know 'how to' is infantile and basically racist and we are all supposed to be working together. The government answer is of course to deny imcompetence and to just tax those who they think can afford it until those folk leave - then the sh1t will definitely hit the fan!
15 years and no major rush by investors to pump money in to this country - I wonder why?

O deary me, not the old racecard again.....If a black man bumps his toe on a rock he'll blame whites for making him walk on a path with rocks...One has got to see the humour in the whole thing... A monkey in silk is a monkey no less.

Why are you still here Craig LUNN. If you hope that black people are going do ruin the country then you should be in Australia or wherever you believe you can build a better future.

Maroga has done the honourable thing and I applaud him for that.
As a forward looking person I will forget that chapter and concern myself with the future.

The challenges facing ESKOM still remain. As the report stated, there are no agreements with regard to coal quality and the mining houses consequently supplied poor quality thereby compromising the integrity of our coal generation infrastructure and making a quick buck in the process.

It was Maroga's job to rectify this amongst other things. He failed in doing this and therefore our problems.

What about the Mining houses? Are they justified in making profits in this manner? Are they innocent? Should they be left alone? These guys are even alleged to have cooked lab results in order to fool ESKOM to believe that they are supplying a good quality of coal.

Someone is going to have to rectify this situation and if I were to have my way someone or some poeple's heads in the mining sector would have to roll too.

Its a foregone conclusion lets close the chapter, and move-on. The emphasis should be on who will take leadership role going foreward. So help me God let it be a competent SA, not another Spanish or never never John from elsewhere- who will be paid in Dollars.

The only problem with Maroga's strategy is that he challenged racism or what he calls "White Supervision" head-on. In this country if you are going to challenge racism you must be sure that you are standing on firm ground. What is said about this situation is there are also some black people who believe that blacks must always be supervised by whites.

@Mathebula, the mining house are suppose to make a profit, how do you think they are going to pay the worker every time they go on a strike. The cost of all of those labor agreements have to be paid for by the SA consumers. That's no big thing about this CEO leaving Eskom this goes on all the time in the US and advance economies. The myth in SA and advanced by the ANC, that people can't be fired for not doing their job if that person is a big wheel in the ANC. Hogan is doing the right thing to bring people in these state own companies to run them right regardless of their color. The government should sell stock in these companies to raise money for their operations.

So who got the commission on the coal sold to China ,which should have gone to the power stations?

If a board decides to fire or force the CEO to resign is that not a reflection of their failure to provide strategic guidance? Or does this smack of white supervision. My advice to CEOs is never appoint a white COO or some white dude or woman to do your strategic work. Once you do that they will will conspire against you because they feel entitled to supervise a black person. Experience has shown this in many instances. Next time Mr Maroga stay away from White COOs, consultants etc.

When was anyone forced to resign for incompetence under the old system? It's much easier to provide services to 10% of the population on the backs of the rest.

The biggest problem the New SA has is escaping the nepotism and mutual back-scratching of the old system (heard of the Broeders?). The kind of mindset that worked for the old system will not work today and sadly, the ANC has been suckered into the logic that they should not break a working system. True where it was working, but the old culture of being more important to know the right people than to know what you're doing is alive and well, and a big obstacle to real change.

Anyone noticed that "parastatal" has the same root as "paralysis"? :)

MuAfrica: He challenged racism?

You mean, played the race card?

Maybe the coal supply problem was Eskom's contribution to combating climate change?

People who think that everything was hunkydory in the apartheid era should read the attachments in this article. The was a De Villiers commission in 1983 following steep increases (48%) in electricity prices.

You said it like it is Sue Topham and Sipho Hu. This government was so intent on getting rid of whites in the parastatel institutions, that they cut off their noses to spite their faces.
They were in such a hurry to get rid of the whites, that they placed incompetent and unskilled buddy's in these positions. Now it is not that there are no competent black people, because there are. Obviously these competent black people do not have the connections in the ANC. But then they wouldn't, because after Madiba retired, there was very little intelect left in the ANC and so they supported other parties, which put them in disfavour with the ruling party. Come on ANC, the confidence in your ability has dwindled, rub the muck out of your eyes and find skilled people for the job, black and white skilled people are out there, they are just not your supporters and stop blaming the whites for everything, this is sooooo racist.

This is not about a black CEO that failed to deliver - it is about a CEO that failed to deliver. Those that are blaming racism, please read the two documents that are available here. The one deals with real, addressable, important and relevant issues for ESKOM. The other is the waffle one would find in your typical leadership/management bestseller. The latter is hardly what I would expect from the Rmillions-earning CEO of a utiltity giant in crisis!

And for the record, this is not a racist thing to criticize maroga, there are hundreds, nay thousands businesses in SA owned and or run by Africans and they are hugely successful, showing that colour has nothing to do with running a business successfully!! the problem is that the gvt KEEPS on employing incompetent people, not because there are no competent Africans (Their are!) but gvt prioritizes politics instead of competence and as long as it does so the these situations will continue!

When a moderate household is going to pay at least R2500,00 per month on electricity in the not so far future, is my nightmare. Whether Mr. Jacob Maroga goes or stays, that is not the problem. Forget him and the rest, the problem must be solved urgently.

People just fcuking read the Olsen report.Then you'd realise why this Maroga dunce had to go.Management is neither black or white.If you suck, you suck and Maroga has been seen to suck as a manager.

One needs years and years of studying,management experience to lead such an important company as Eskom.Eskom doesn't need a black or white manager,it need someone who has proven management clout.

All the fcukwits who are crying racism in these pages need to have their pear sized brains checked.You cry your eyes out when electricity provision is affected but you don't want that fixed.

Anyone who has a brain has to know that South Africa has not go good and qualified AA managers yet,check out all the parastatals that have/had black managers.They are surviving or have survived because the government keeps bailing them out.They should study hard,be exposed to good management mentors.What can Maroga say would be his legacy at Eskom? He deliberately ignored a consultant that he had hired because of perceived 'whiteness' of her skin.Why did he hire a white consultant then,when he could have hired a black one.What is a need for a consultant when you are a qualified manager?

I CAN'T THINK OF ANY BLACK MANAGER IN THIS COUNTRY THAT CAN BE EMPLOYED INTERNATIONAL,NOT ONE.

MUGABE KICKED OUT WHITE FARMERS WITH YEARS AND YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND WHAT HAPPENED.SO WILL IT BE RACIST TO SAY BLACK FARMERS PROVED USELESS.

This country has a lot of world class managers,the problem is that they are of not the right colour.


A South African heads one of the biggest mining companies in the world, unfortunately he couldn't be noticed in this country because he doesn't fit transformation colour.SAD

Dear Mr Mazi
I entirely diasagree. There are many, many competent, first class and talented black managers in SA that can be employed 'international'. There are talented and mediocre managers of all races in this country, and excellence is not the preserve of any group.

Phuthuma Nhleko @MTN,Sizwe Nxasana @Firstrand,Lazarus Zim @ Anglo Coal......The list goes on, Quality black CEO's who have shown a capacity to lead and lead well. Maroga and Godsell offered their board competing visions. Godsell's vision was preffered. Let us give him a chance to implement it and stop claiming that colour has anything to do with it. goodluck ofr the future MAROGA!

Oh how I wish we were all colour blind. Not that that would make a difference; we would find some other avenue to spurt out our prejudices.
It's time to get Eskom back on the rails and appoint someone capable of doing it; someone with the guts to clean out the dead wood and replace them with the right people, regardless of colour. He or she will need the support of the entire organisation and the full backing of the shareholder. Considering the mess Eskom is in it there is little time to lose and if that means a non affirmative action appointment then so be it.
The alternative is that when the last person leaves the building there will be no lights to switch off.

Sterling Ferguson you also belong in Australia. In fact everybody who is as stupid as yourself should do the honourable thing and leave our shores. I dont even think the Australians will accept you. Your IQ seems to be too low.

What has labour relations and industrial action have to do with coal quality. Obviously you did not understand a thing in my submission. Please look up the meaning of SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS and QUALTY GUARANTEES and the read my submission again with your new found wisdom.

Basically I notice that there are three groups of people commenting on this article.

1) Those who believe that ESKOM's problems were caused by blacks merely because they are black and blacks will never ever get anything right. These guys are racist morons who need spell check.

2)Those who recognise the problem for what it is and do not associate race with incompetence. These are the people I belive I can have an inteligent conversation with.

3) Those who will defend incompetence blindly because they believe they are under attack. These guys too need help if we are to take this country forward.

Like I said before, let's talk more about solutions than worry about Maroga. NEWSFLASH: He is gone and probably with a golden handshake and there is nothing you can do about it.

@Victor
Let's talk about appointing people based on competence to do the job, irrespective of race or political affiliation. The efficient and effective functioning of Eskom is critical to the future of the country and its leadership cannot be left to those who are not up to it. Let's look at the return of meritocracy, since politocracy and kleptocracy are ruining the country.

Mark Robertson,


I respect your opinion,but I shall keep and stick to mine.Would you kindly give me the names and what they have achieved here or elsewhere?Look, the so called transformation should NOT be pursued to the detriment of the country.I am just happy to see the country move forward in the hands of CAPABLE and QUALIFIED people no matter what their political affiliation or colour.Come on even the Yanks elected Obama.

Faith I totally agree with you.
If you see the letter from Susan Olsen to the CEO of Eskom she uses the word "lacks leadership", "has no ability", "lack of understanding", "lack of experience", "being unable".
, "cannot","has no ability", "lacks leadership", "no experience", "no direction", no "knowledge" and then she made certain recommendations to solve the problem namely relocation, redeployment and dismissal and also the dismissal of consultants appointed by Eskom.. How does Susan Olsen dares to compile such a report/letter when she indicated that Eskom may collapse. The fact of the matter is that what she predicted has happened and will most probably continue for many years.It seems to me that the board of Eskom did the right thing.Luckily for Jacob is that he will get a golden handshake and the racist whites has to pay for it. Well done BOB you wishes get closer to you.

As much as Mr Maroga is to be blamed for everything, I strongly don't believe that he should be the only one to vacate his office. No CEO makes or takes big decisions alone, the entire board has to take part in the decision making, hence the entire board needs to be fired and dissolved. As african executive, I feel that the race issues in the boardrooms and the country at large need to be address,or I forseen a world war III (between us africans and white people).

One way to solve the problem is to fire the board and appoint the correct political affiliated persons who cannot not and will not ask stupid questions to provide the necessary guidance to management.Then management can appoint the correct consultants and follow their guidance. Within a couple of years the UN will feed us africans in RSA. Currently the UN feeds 5 million people in Zimbabwe. The difference is that the UN has to budget for more than 40 million people. VIVA Africa.

Anyone who is suggesting that black managers are incompetent is failing to take opportunity to deal with superiority mentality that compromise a lot thereby leaving them in the wilderness.

Black people of South Africa are the most gifted as they are able co-exist with any person of any colour even when they have all the opportunity to sideline those who call them all sorts of names day in and day out.

South Africa belongs to all who live in it and we are going to see both black and white leading big institutions.Those who say all sorts of rubbish about blacks not being competent will only shine on e-mails and newspaper comment lines such as this one. The reality is that blacks managers are part of running this land and that will remain untill the next coming of Jesus Christ.

I feel sorry for those who still think that strategic positions belongs to the whites only.That time is buried and will not come back. Those who think there is a chance of white Baas must rather hang themselves and save themselves some anger as their kids will be led by black kids who are the descendants of heroes and heroines whose blood split for equality and freedom.

I do not think we will have a war.
Before that we will starve to death.

Really, which is the more pressing problem that threatens the supply of electricity to 50 million people?? ... white supervision? or black coal?

Roy
I see alot of heroes and heroines througout Africa.
Now I understand it is the gifted white managers that, Angola caused all the problems in the countries such as Zimbabwe, DRC, Ethiopia,Rwanda,Sudan and Somalia

I think we need capable people together with the coal.

At R2500/month, it is best to borrow around R140,000 and install a solar-electric system to replace ESKOM - the repayments are less than the cost of electricity now. Cheaper in the end and you are protected from arbitrary cutting off of power etc. In the end all is paid for and it will only cost maintenance. You can then pay yourself a bonus each year with what you save instead of paying Mr Maroga.

Unfortunately large users such as the mines and industry will have to cough up. As they cannot absorb such increases - their only hope is to form power companies of their own as they did when ESKOM was created to supply the mines with power.

The fools paradise that Alec Irwin and Maroga's predecessor Gcabashe lived in is now a fools hell and let us not forget the fool under who's watch the decision to sell us down the river was made in 1998. Public Enterprise Minister Jeff Radebe - that jack of all trades but master of none - currently demolishing Justice.

Maroga and his vision are a wasteland of joblessness not only in ESKOM but in SA as a whole.

If only we had the same kind of press freedom back in the 80's as we have now.

I would have liked to call PW Botha and his goons morons on a national forum such as this.

The only problem is that I would probably end up in jail without trial.

Lucky you, you can call Maroga or Zuma or indeed any black person any name you please without consequence.

This situation was just fine with many white people and they could not complain about anything in that perfect Suid Afrika.

On behalf of all black people on earth, I would like to apologise for ending your perfct Utopia.

The least we can do is grant you the freedom of expression we never had during your reign.

Also accept my apologies for eveything that is wrong in this country including ESKOM.

I hope that was enough to shut you all up now !!!!

I presume that Mr Maroga's replacement will be a black person. Why is South Africa's race industry so concerned? A black person is fired and replaced by another black person

We don't know the full facts. Besides the documents attached to the report are unsigned, leaked with no attributed source. I smell a hidden agenda here. I am so glad imade my decision formy two kids to go to school outside SA. This country is just too toxic for ablack person.

Mathebula: The internet wasnt available during the apartheid era. 'Thanks' for giving me the right to freely express myself. That was sarcasm by the way.

Apology accepted. Now, all you need to do, is take your rock-star vision of your ANC top dawgs, and turn it into genuine concern.

I challenge you. Make me stop complaining about incompetence and corruption. Hold your rawk stars accountable to its promises, and to service delivery.

Dear Mr Mazi
With pleasure - just one example - Phutuma Nhleko of MTN - probably the best CEO in SA, and has grown MTN into a huge international and African success story. There are many others.

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-eskom-extortion-now.html


Have your say - sign the official petition

Hi Guys, I see you are still at it!!! Old saying - if you don't like the picture - change it! Government has 5 years to prove it can do the JOB - or the voters vote them out. Exercise that freedom that was fought for! If Amercia can build a multi-racial society etc., so can we - Stop with the color-thing and stay on track for competence. Affirmative action should have been managed on merit and BEE should never of happended. All that money should have been used to create new companies - African companies and not jump on the tail of existing ones. Where was the gov. brain cell on this one. It was the worst PR for Africa as a whole and black South Africans in particular.
A question asked by a visiting Nigerian - "Is it not possible for Africans to start and run their own businesses? - What they are doing here is theft at best and an admission of guilty as charged at worst." As to the talk about "nationalising' the mines - are they crazy - do they never learn - remember the UK and where nationalisation took them and now they are in trouble with their ownership after bank bailouts and are backtracking as fast as! However, if the Conservatives get in they can possibly change direction - we'll see. And that is why you change an incompetant government in the hopes that the next will bring about the desired effect.

Govt should not run ANY business. They administer and fascilitate. They are polititions, not businessmen.

Privatise eskom, post office, railways, etc. If there are no "jobs for the boys" then so be it.

Concentrate on the 3 things that govts are responsible for:
security, education and health.

Simple.

@Victor Mathebula @6Nov 1.17pm
To answer your question: Why am I still here and not in Australia..?". Ans; Because I am a South African and want to see this country and all its peoples, do well. Is that a good enough answer for you !?

Perhaps ,in the meantime, you might want to reconsider your comment..or be accused of thinking, no different from Mr Marogo and his response to Mrs Olsens's advice re the state of Eskom ! And of course..you know what the repercussions of Mr Marogo's short sighted ,arrogant, narrow minded - response to her were ! ie the Failure of Eskom,the huge repercussions to his and our country..and lastly ..his own demise too !! Seems he really shot himself in the foot - on all three counts, didnt he !?
Now you tell me, Mr Victor..would you rather have me - a heavily taxed SA - take my contributions elsewhere !?
My advice to you: 1.Change your mindset from thinking, "like a Marogo" - and dont shoot yourself in the foot, too.Influence others, if you can. You too, can make a contribution. Remember..If I cant quite see the same vision that you have of the "rock-star image of you ANC Top Dawgs" (as put by Sinudeity)-with the arrogance,incompetence and lack of foresight in them...it doesnt mean I am wrong...and it could quite possibly be..that I may be right !?
2.One last thing Victor..Knowing ones own limitations and Accepting good advice,that is sometimes better than ones own..is not a weakness..but is often a strength and a virtue..that is often admired and cherished, by far stronger men !
Remember that..then maybe there is hope for you. I hope you do.

@F J Kruger.
It's Alec Erwin, not Irwin.
Crikey Mate! People may think we are related.

I used to be a consultant at ESKOM and had a similar run-in with some black appointees who did not perform, yet displayed insulting arrogance. There was a young white guy who single-handedly built a very good coal evalutation system using a modern simulation system. (To my shock, no one else, besides him, knew what system simulation meant). Yet he was shunned and intimidated. When I pointed out the general incompetence, I was castigated, called to a "kangoroo court" meeting, where all sorts of lies were directed towards me. They said that "they are doing me a favour for letting me finish my contract. To deflect the racist angle, they said that from thereon I should work only with "older people". After I finished my contract, I told them that I will not be available in the future. Thus I can speak of my own experience what it meant to be a white consultant at ESKOM. Mr Mathebula should appreciate that, I am sure.

@Victor Mathebula If I buy from you I check the quality, just the fact that Eskom outsourced the QA to the mines sounds incompetence. The mines cannot police themselves, it is a sure recipe for trouble. I don’t care if the CEO is green, get somebody that can pick up the pieces. Whether we want to believe it or not the sh1t has already hit the fan. I blame government for the problem. It is fine to promise everybody power. It is ok to give every household free power, but make sure it is sustainable. Unfortunately the government handouts are not sustainable. They are killing the economic active population, it has become too easy to just up taxes or prices. SABC is in trouble easy fix 1% extra tax. Eskom is in trouble easy, don’t get the non-payers to pay up the price for the people that pay. Easy eat the goose that lay the eggs and, you have nothing left.

Surely the entire Eskom debackle has all to do witn the wrong people in the wrong places.. be they black or white.. surely the term 'black out' is a pc incorrect term ? We'll just continue to have more of them, i'm sure..

once upon a time! there was a ass h#%le called GUS@work, who was not staying in the township during Political criminal regime(afrikaner) who never knew that my mom use to study with a candle because his grand father P.W Botha thought it will offend God to install electricity to a K...fer' s area as it will make them feel as if GOD LOVES THEM THEY SAME WAY AS WHITES, (according to P.W Botha's speach on the 8 august 1985 in pretoria)now the Black person has taken up the govt, the MORON CALLED gus@work, is able to feel the pain of not having electricity all the time, he open his big mouth and write crap on this forum, that if it was'nt for a black man he woud't be having this freedom of speach,

A good craftsman never blames his tools – so the saying goes. A good manager never blames his people, especially in a public arena. He / she will utilize his / her people in positions that best suit their skills and experience. He will not throw away a “tool” just because it is “difficult” to use. Just this fact makes Marogo incompetent to lead people.

And certainly a good manager will not include excuses such as the “race card” in a document of this stature, neither will he make excuses for failures on his or his employee’s part in such a document.

Mr Marogo’s vision has been so clouded by the massive CHIP on his shoulder (I wonder if he would like tomato sauce to go with his chip) that it detracts from his ability to run the “company”.

When one talks about getting experienced people in, it is seen as racist, because it assumes you are talking about whites. It does not. That it ends up being whites that has more experience can certainly blamed on Apartheid, no argument there.

But the crux of the matter is that we need the services delivered to make our country grow, for the benefit of all, even more so for disadvantaged or poor people of all races. And we need private businesses to also be run so that they can make a profit, because then they can expand, and create jobs for all. Therefore it does not matter who runs what, be he yellow or pink or green or black or white.

What the “whites” owe the “blacks” is experience in whatever area is needed. After that, it should just be who can do the job better, FOR THE BETTER OF ALL.

But when I look around me, and see that the plight of the disadvantaged and the poor masses has not improved, it saddens me. They have to contend with more crime, poor service delivery, job losses due to incompetent managers of whatever colour.

If you stand in a pit and can’t get out, it doesn’t help to pull the person who came to help you into the pit with you.

We needed to grow in an evolutionary fashion, because then you can go forward from a position of strength. But we didn’t. We assumed that Eskom and SABC and Telkom and all the other organizations and the municipalities would run on autopilot, and they did. But slowly they lost their course, to the point where we stand today.

We have a useless education system (Outcomes Based Education) which completely replaced something that worked, even if imperfectly. And the joke is that the new education system gave the “haves” an even greater advantage than in the past, because external resources are now needed such as proper libraries, internet access, and parents with the time and money to help with the endless stream of “projects”. And we are approaching the point where we will have just incompetent young adults entering the job market. And that includes the have’s and the have-not’s.

And PLEEEEZZZE stop blaming “whites” for everything. Who was it that realized that there were unsavoury things going on, which government tried to hide from us. Who was it that realized that it was not right the way people were being treated? Who was it that took the bold courageous steps to vote for massive changes, and for many, an uncertain future – but still they voted for change?