Explosive allegations by former President Thabo Mbeki about load shedding in South Africa

Former President Thabo Mbeki claimed that load shedding was engineered by Eskom managers to force emergency coal purchases at double the standard prices.

This is one of the explosive allegations from Mbeki during his speech at the 2026 National Democratic Revolution (NDR) Seminar, held on 29 June 2026.

The seminar, hosted by the Thabo Mbeki Foundation, was a dialogue exploring key questions around current political sentiment.

At the seminar, the former President said that a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) was commissioned in 2014 to investigate problems at Eskom.

The Special Investigating Unit investigated the issues and reported its findings to former President Jacob Zuma in 2017.

The report was never released. However, it was leaked to Mbeki, which gave him a new perspective on what really happened.

“The SIU report revealed that managers at Eskom coal power stations intentionally ignored automated alerts from the internal monitoring system,” he said.

“When the system warned them to replenish their stock, the Eskom managers deliberately chose not to do so.”

“That is why we had a complete nationwide power grid failure in January 2008. The station managers simply refused to replenish the coal.”

He explained that, under Eskom’s rules and regulations, once a shortage of that magnitude occurs, Eskom is required to declare an emergency.

A consequence of declaring an emergency is that Eskom can bypass the standard tendering process. “You buy coal from whoever has it available immediately,” he said.

“This emergency buying instantly doubled the price of the coal. It was a deliberate, conscious decision.”

Mbeki said that, when load shedding first occurred in South Africa in 2007 and 2008, he publicly apologised.

“When I eventually read this newspaper report years later, I realised how foolish I had been, but back then, I simply didn’t know the truth,” he said.

Call for an investigation into Mbeki’s allegations

This was not the first time he had made these allegations. He has repeatedly said that load shedding was deliberately created by Eskom.

This prompted the South African Federation of Trade Unions (SAFTU) to call for an investigation into the allegations.

“These are extremely serious allegations. If true, they amount not simply to corruption or incompetence, but to deliberate economic sabotage,” it said.

“Claims of this magnitude cannot rest on speeches or political interpretations. They must be supported by evidence, transparency, and prosecutions.”

It asked that the SIU report be released with full disclosure of its findings and the naming of all responsible individuals.

“A democracy cannot be governed through secret reports. If workers suffered because of deliberate actions, those responsible must go to jail,” it said.

It said that if the report was released in 2017, as Mbeki claimed, two Presidents have been in its possession: Zuma and the current President, Cyril Ramaphosa.

It added that Ramaphosa, who has governed for years and previously chaired the Eskom crisis war room, should explain why it was not published.

“Either the evidence has been concealed, or the claims are exaggerated. Both scenarios represent a failure of leadership,” it said.

“If Eskom was sabotaged, publish the report and jail those responsible. If it was mismanaged, hold leaders accountable.”