Electricity situation a win for democracy, says expert

Electricity Minister’s Kgosientsho Ramokgopa’s update on the energy action plan “is not an election conspiracy”, says energy analyst Chris Yelland.

There had been suggestions that the absence of load shedding was a conspiracy to further the ANC’s election prospects.

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Similarly, there had been suggestions that Eskom was using diesel extensively to keep the lights on.

“The increased attention which has been given to the question of load shedding for the past year with an election coming made people in government start taking load shedding seriously compared to the past 10 years,” Yelland said.

“About a year ago, it started to become a political issue which focused the mind of government …

“In that respect, this is democracy at work and that is good because if one political party is so dominant that it can make all kinds of wrong moves and get away with it, that is not the way it should be.”

Yelland stated things were now a bit more balanced in terms of the electoral support between government and the opposition parties.

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He said this was putting government under more pressure to perform better because it was being held to account.

“The best way of holding politicians to account is when the balance of power becomes a little bit more finely balanced than they realise. They have to actually deal with the real problems or else they’re going to lose political support,” Yelland said.

“The increased attention on the government is a sign that democracy is working in South Africa and holding politicians to account, and that’s a good thing.”