By : Makhosini Mgitywa
You don’t get much IFPer than Mkhuleko Hlengwa. He boasts of being Inkosi Buthelezi’s protégé… you can actually see mutual affection in their eyes. The IFP is a bunch you can’t quite accuse of protecting or defending the ANC.
The chatter I see on Twitter and on this platform is of Hlengwa as SCOPA chair having a dispute with an Eskom board member. For a reason that’s unclear, many people believe Hlengwa was protecting the ANC.
The board member was essentially suggesting that the board and executive of Eskom were top performers who were doing their utmost to clean up an “ANC-led government mess.” That could very well be true. However, should Hlengwa have allowed such an account to pass when the state capture era ‘ended’ a few years ago already?
Can we all confidently say that the Eskom board appointed the best people for executive posts?
Is De Ruyter the best they could find? If the ANC-led government continues to meddle in Eskom affairs to the detriment of energy generation, the board must unambiguously say so, so that the shareholder rep, Minister Gordhan, may be held to account.
We suffer greatly under load shedding. Many small businesses can’t afford generators and they lose business and shed jobs because of load shedding. Those who run Eskom must tell us what is happening. Throwing the ANC under the bus should not suffice.
*Makhosini Mgitywa is political analyst and PR practitioner