(Gallo Images/Sunday Times/Esa Alexander)
South Africa has made progress in rebuilding its institutions to uphold the rule of law but there is still a way to go in rooting out corruption at power utility Eskom, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Goudhan said.
“There are still meddling individuals out there and we need to deal with them,” Gordhan, who oversees state-run companies, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV's Jennifer Zabasadja last week.
While there are still corrupt elements at Eskom, “the balance is tipping towards good people, people doing the right thing, and law enforcement is increasingly identifying wrongdoing in the system,” he said.
Eskom was one of many government agencies that were systematically looted during former president Jacob Zuma's nearly nine-year tenure, a time of rampant corruption. Power shortages have continued since Cyril Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma in early 2018, but rolling blackouts have eased in recent weeks as more generating capacity has been built.
With elections due to be held next week, opposition parties have questioned whether Eskom is increasing its use of diesel generating turbines to maintain power supplies even though they are much more costly than coal-fired plants. Both Gordhan and power utility Ramokgopa deny there is anything untoward and say turnaround efforts are bearing fruit.
“There is now much more stable leadership in place, both on the board and in the executive ranks, and we will see further changes in this regard over the coming weeks and months,” Gordhan said.
A series of opinion polls suggest the ruling ANC could lose its majority in the May 29 general election, and power outages are among voters' concerns – but the minister says that is unlikely.
“I believe the ANC still represents the best interests of virtually all South Africans,” he said, adding that the party would likely be given a new opportunity to build democracy and the economy.
He added that China remains a good place to do business and has recently attracted new investment from automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, with many Chinese companies expressing interest in following suit.
