Heads must roll

[duncan drennan]

I thought you might like this line from the government's statement on Friday,

In a sense we are the victims of our own success.

[Chatmaster]

OK, I am more determined than ever before. I WANT HEADS TO ROLL!
If there is one thing that complete messes with my head, it is idiots that give us the political "no answer" as an answer. WTH is wrong with these people? Are they so thick and dumb as to think we do not know they are incompetent? They must go the lot of them. Their actions so far is criminal! They belong in jail! They sabotaged the country successfully and they still have jobs! They shouldn't have jobs, they belong in jail! This is above comprehension.

Alec Irwin (Minister of Public Enterprises): 'The underlying problem is the very significant rise in demand - particularly over the past few years - resulting from an economy working at full capacity, the rising standards of living with close on 3.5 million homes having access to electricity since 1994. In this sense, we are the victims of our own success.'

Mmmmm, does this idiot have any kind of education, seriously! I mean who can believe that whilst it is clear to everyone else that Eskom is generating less electricity than before, he actually believes his own statement?

Steve: 'They had an excess capacity and you can argue that: is an excess capacity better than a shortage? Both of them are negative.'

OK, does this guy have half a brain?

However, Eskom's Steve Lennon insists that wet coal remains a major problem and, when pressed to supply Carte Blanche with figures of the actual stockpiles at the power stations, he declined.

Derek: 'Can you give us a print-out of how much coal is being delivered to those stations?'

Steve: 'We can give you the big picture on coal, but to give you the detail on every single power station and the coal situation is not our policy.'

Derek: 'Why not?'

Steve: 'Because there is obviously security issues that relate to the security of the supply to those power stations. But what I can say is that we have never been in the situation where our stockpiles have gotten to a zero or negative situation.'

So are we all going to steal coal to make diamonds?

Derek: 'So why do they deserve R57-million?'

Steve: 'It is our goal to continue to produce electricity.'

What an idiot!

This diagram from Eskom's intranet is for internal use only. It shows the megawatts that Eskom exports at a specific time to South Africa's neighbouring states. This week, while our gold mines were shut down, Eskom sent 761mW to the MOZAL aluminium smelter in Maputo.

At the same time, Swaziland was receiving 476mW, Botswana 103mW, Namibia 126mW and Zimbabwe 51mW.

Added up, this is more than 1 500mW six times the amount that Johannesburg was forced to load shed daily.

They have been lying all along!

OK, my summary after reading the transcript. Eskom has been run by criminals that tried their best to steal Eskom and the country blind without being criminally liable. If you don't pay transporters and you have to pay less than half the personnel it equals more profits and big bonuses.

This in my view is a clear cut criminal case. They should all go to jail for fraud and sabotage.

And the solution is easy, says Eskom's CEO Jacob Maroga, 'Just save electricity'.

So I can steal you blind for a little longer Gotta love that!

I want action, I want action now! Patricia De lile has my full support that the entire cabinet and Thabo should go. Eskom as far as I am concerned are being run by criminals that have been making monkeys out of all of us for years.

[Dave A]

You had me scratching around for something on Patricia's comments - and found this:

Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille accused Mbeki and his government of having ignored warnings about the crunch in electricity supplies.

"President Mbeki and his Cabinet have failed the South African people," De Lille said in a statement.

"The failure to plan, despite documented warnings almost 10 years ago, to avert a national electricity crisis, has already cost our country billions of rand in lost production and tax revenue, which threatens the job security and livelihoods of millions of South Africans."

The ID, with only five seats in the African National Congress (ANC)-dominated 400-seat Parliament, is unlikely to win the support of a majority but the motion is highly symbolic.

De Lille said it would be brought at the first sitting of Parliament's National Assembly on February 12, a few days after Mbeki's annual State of the Nation address.

"Our entire economy has been built around the comparative advantage of affordable and reliable electricity and the president and his Cabinet have essentially destroyed that advantage through incompetence and negligence," De Lille said.

"This will have severe repercussions on our economic growth trajectory and foreign investment," she said.
extracts from M&G here

It would be interesting to see this one go to a vote.

[Chatmaster]

I am a big supporter of the News bulletins, they had an interview with her last night on 2 I think. As far as the ANC majority vote is concerned, I am a bit unsure what to expect with Zuma being the new ANC president anything is possible. Maybe it is just the little optimist in me hoping that some of them actually do their duty

I cannot help it this issue makes me angry, after the post I actually felt bad about my hard words, but what to do when you are being treated like an idiot?

[Dave A]

You read my mind. There's a rather unique outside chance of an upset.

[duncan drennan]

I must say, I would prefer not to have a quite overthrow happen in the background while the lights are off. Firing up people over a current issue means they might not be thinking clearly about the implications of their actions.

[Debbiedle]

Okay, I know this is uncalled for on such a serious thread, but every time I see "heads must roll!" I am thinking....they can't , I believe it is because of the ears! *scuttles away, hanging head in shame for having such a silly light hearted thought at such a seriously dark time...*

[duncan drennan]

<- head rolling

I thought it had more to do with the brains unbalancing the head....although in this case I don't think we need to worry. We already know that they don't have ears or brains

[Dave A]

We can lose all sorts of things, but as long as we don't lose our sense of humour, it's all tolerable.

Nice one, Debbie.

[Dave A]

There isn't much sign of heads rolling any time soon going by the special sitting of parliament on the electricity crisis today.

South Africans can save electricity by going to sleep earlier and boiling less water, Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica told Parliament on Wednesday.

“Go to sleep earlier so that you can grow and be cleverer. Boil less water; use the microwave rather than the stove; take a shower and not a shallow bath,� she told a special sitting of Parliament to discuss the power crisis.

She was unveiling a 10-point plan to encourage South Africans to change their electricity-usage habits. Amid much heckling and jeering from some MPs, she criticised calls from “some quarters� to identify culprits and castigate them. “Crucify, crucify, crucify,� she said.
full report from M&G here

[Chatmaster]

The thing is they all feel we must move on and rather look at solutions than trying to find someone to blame.

Well, I would feel the same if I realized just how pathetic my party has run the country until now and I will also want to forget and hope the country forget if I knew I proved just how incompetent I am.

[wynn]

And don't forget there have been no dams built lately, are we waiting for a year of low rainfall to find out that there was no forward planning as well?

[Chatmaster]

You are mentioning a very important point there wynn! Without a doubt we now realise that the incompetence of our great government is even worse than any of us ever expected. I think we need to start digging into other critical matters as well before we have problems that are as serious or maybe more serious.

I am also concerned about the agriculture in this country. Maybe a good start is to look at where BEE was firmly applied to see how those industries are really doing. I remember having a discussion with a friend the other day about the state of our public roads. He does more travelling than me and it was clear that he was very unhappy with the state of our roads in terms of maintenance and capacity. A trip from 16:00 to 18:00 in the Sandton area, N1 and M1 also highlight that we will soon be grid locked. I suspect that then we will be called names because we are driving in a car alone on the N1,... Mmmmmmmmm sorry, they did that already!

[Dave A]

A trip from 16:00 to 18:00 in the Sandton area, N1 and M1 also highlight that we will soon be grid locked.

Now that, to me, is a valid time to use the excuse "Victim of our own success."

And they are doing some work towards easing the problem. I'm thinking particularly the Gautrain project, but hasn't there been some road widening as well?

[Chatmaster]

I think it is a bit of a complicated thing to just widen the roads. The M1 is pretty much on its max. But one thing that can solve the problem is proper public transport. But they have been talking about that for years and the only thing I ever saw happening was the Gautrain project. However, that will not solve the problem Johannesburg. There is real traffic issues building from both the East and the West Rand and the Gautrain will not solve the issues there. Ontdekkers, Hendrik Potgieter and Main Reef road are almost at their max at peak hour, imo anyway. There is a crisis looming there...