Roger Toms

As kids, our parents sent us to school to get an education so we could have a better life than them. Our parents fostered education, hard work and general respect of life and humanity. I grew up thinking that education was a passport to a better life for me and my family; when I grew up, all my role models were educated people. I looked up to the teachers, especially my … [Read more...] about Tenderpreneurs better-off than Educated Public

The Eskom letter (Business Report of March 9) refers. One is very tempted to ignore such racist vomit and not dignify it with a reply, but we evidently have Eskom’s attention: possibly, someone is at home at Megawatt Park. It was surprising that the letter came from the Eskom board, a body of low esteem, what with the chairperson’s dubious track record (unfortunately, quite … [Read more...] about Why ESKOM is wrong

WITH the release of the PwC report on Tegeta coal contracts, and the reinstatement of Brian Molefe as chief executive, it is very difficult to keep up with Eskom happenings. Some of the following may appear dated, but is still very relevant. On April 26, Business Report headlined sharp Treasury officials querying Eskom’s increase in the contract price of coal from Tegeta … [Read more...] about Will the Great Coal Scam now continue at Eskom?

In apparent desperation Eskom has made a last-gasp application to the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) for a massive tariff hike, bringing into sharp focus the sorry state of affairs that threaten this country’s very fabric. Fortunately, Nersa has refused to be bullied into a hurried decision and postponed their decision for six weeks to permit proper interrogation of … [Read more...] about Lies, damned lies, and Eskom numbers

AN Eskom conspiracy theory and stage 3 load shedding may finally have woken up the country to the realities of the utility’s meltdown. Late in 2014 the writing was on the wall: I assembled what little unplanned outage data Eskom had made public from time to time, and then I drew a trend line. The data predicts total grid failure, with less than 50 percent of generating … [Read more...] about A Web of Political Cronyism at Play

THE COLLAPSE of the Majuba power station coal silo, aka a bunker, typifies the mess that Eskom has created over the years and indicates that they are truly inept. One suspects that Eskom management prefers the term “silo” to avoid any possible confusion when making one of their frequent trips to the golf course! For management to take no corrective action on such an obvious … [Read more...] about Eskom Ignorance just short of Criminal

One would think that, with the passage of time and expenditure of countless billions, Eskom’s woes would be on the decline. Instead, there is an ever-growing pile in the chief executive’s “pending” tray, the latest item being the replacement of his chief bean-counter, despite Eskom not being in the bean business. Since Eskom became the definition of power politics, necessary … [Read more...] about Incompetence of Eskom steadily Disempowers SA