The above meeting, organised jointly by APDUSA and the Bishop Lavis Action Community (BLAC), was held on 13 July in Bishop Lavis Township. It addressed the ever growing, critical issue of electricity provision for South Africans. The speaker, Frank van der Horst presented the meeting with invaluable statistics and political perspectives on the economic crisis in which ESKOM and its masters have dumped the country. Operating against the backdrop of the profit dealings in high level international finance capital, ESKOM has, over time, managed to accumulate enormous debt, currently standing at R450 billion. The speaker also explained the linkages between huge and well-connected banks like Deutsche Bank and the control, though countries’ central banks,  they exercise over corporations like ESKOM.  We are daily bombarded with news reports of illegal practices associated with business deals, official malpractices, looting of state coffers etc.; all of which adds to the extremely poor operational state of ESKOM. It now wants to recover this debt through all manner of means; most importantly, by increasing charges for domestic users. For the poor majority in the country, these charges have become and are becoming increasingly impossible to pay.

Discussion in the meeting dealt with a range of related topics. The truth about the way an enterprise like ESKOM is managed is in many respects being hidden from ordinary citizens. In other respects its mismanagement is quite open and crude. Its planned breaking up is part and parcel of the privatisation agenda of bourgeois politicians and their private sector partners. The approach of the government regarding ensuring sufficient future energy supplies is noted for its lack of forward planning, specifically the construction of new power plants. The dependence on and continued use of coal as a power source flies in the face of the logic of using a sustainable renewable energy mix. Relying on IPP (Independent Power Producers) to fill in the deficit in output volumes will primarily lead to the enrichment of a few capitalists. The suffering of the working class will only increase. The reality of a handful of billionaires with their government lackeys controlling access, use and gaining benefits from the natural resources of the country is one that we must resist in its totality. Besides ESKOM, the mayhem at other State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) like the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)  and South African Airways (SAA) simply adds to the rotten state of governance in the country. Public servants are also not assured of the security of their pensions, given the serious and concerning revelations emanating from the PIC (Public Investment Corporation) commission of inquiry.

Workers organised in the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (UMSA) and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) are already embroiled in a huge fight with ESKOM and the government. The retention of workers’ jobs is the key issue being raised. However, fighting this issue on its own without linking it to a broader, co-ordinated fight against all manifestations of oppression and exploitation can/will only lead to divisions, disillusionment and defeat.

The meeting agreed that a useful and positive framework was established to further explore this important topic. It also resolved to tackle,  in future public meetings, related matters such as pre-paid meters, pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels, the affordability of electricity, municipal mark-ups on the price of electricity etc, Importantly, these issues have to be linked to broader social and political issues;  aiming to achieve unity in struggle.

Power to the people, not the capitalists!