Senzo Mchunu blames ‘black managers’ for the Eskom crisis

ANC national executive committee (NEC) member and known confidant of president Cyril Ramaphosa, Senzo Mchunu has blamed “black managers” for the current crisis at state-owned power utility Eskom.

Speaking to City Press, Mchunu was quoted as saying “we will regret calling some of our black managers people of excellence. What has happened in most of the parastatals is that those people whom we trusted, who are indeed black managers proved to be fake. They became excellent in failure and looting.”

These comments come in light of claims that the recent bout of load shedding that the country has been hit with is a sabotage attempt by those within Eskom who fear their jobs may be on the line when plans to unbundle and privatise Eskom are implemented.

The claims of sabotage were first made by ANC spokesperson, Zizi Kodwa and echoed by ordinary social media users and political figures on social media after it was announced that load shedding was now at stage 4 – the worst level since the country’s power woes began in 2015.

In addition to attributing the recent round of load shedding to ailing infrastructure, top management at the power utility have blamed the company’s problems on a mass exodus of skilled staff.

Speaking to the publication, an unnamed senior Eskom manager said “in December they fired people who know the business and remained with people who do not know the job. Now we have to rely on consultants.”

Said official also stated that he doesn’t think Eskom’s current board and management do not have what it takes to deal with the crisis.

During his 2019 state of the nation address, Ramaphosa announced plans to save the power utility from complete collapse by unbundling it.

These plans are, however, being met with immense resistance.

City Press reports that some within the ANC even believe that in unbundling Eskom, Ramaphosa is bowing to pressure from the World Bank and global superpowers.

His latest plan, coupled with plans to include independent power producers (IPP) in the power generation system are viewed as the latest moves in an attempt to privatise the state-owned entity.

ALSO READ: Eskom’s stage 4 load shedding is a sabotage plot 

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