Eskom destroyed by greed and negligence

Former Finance Minister and Chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Trevor Manuel, said that Eskom was destroyed by greed and negligence.

Manuel shared this information during a scathing review of South Africa’s post-1994 governance at the National Democratic Revolution Seminar last month.

He was critical of public services, systemic corruption, and the post-2007 political trajectory in South Africa. He cited Eskom as a good example.

“Eskom was considered the best-run electricity utility in the world. In those days, it could borrow at rates better than South Africa as a sovereign nation,” he said.

“It had surplus generating capacity, and the only thing we needed to finance from the public purse was ensuring that the homes of poor people were electrified.”

He said that Eskom ran without problems and supplied the country with reliable, affordable electricity.

However, this did not last. The power utility was gutted by widespread corruption, mismanagement, and even sabotage.

This, along with poor planning, resulted in worsening load shedding between 2007 and 2025. At its peak, there was daily load shedding, crushing the economy.

Eskom was also financially mismanaged, which resulted in such a large debt burden that it needed a government bailout to survive.

Manuel argued that this destruction was caused by greed from corrupt individuals who used the power utility to enrich themselves.

“If you look at the state of Eskom today and the price of electricity, you see the destruction of what was once the world’s pride and joy as a utility,” he said.

“It was caused by greed. We have to call it what it is: it was caused by greed and negligence.”

Many parts of South Africa are falling apart

Manuel did not stop at Eskom. He said that many state-owned enterprises and institutions have deteriorated to concerning levels.

Manuel references the ongoing Madlanga Commission, saying that it showed that the police force is corrupt and broken.

“Did we know that the South African Police Service is as bad, as corrupt, and as dysfunctional as it presents itself on every single day of the week?” he asked.

He also mocked the government’s priority of renaming healthcare facilities instead of maintaining the quality of patient care.

“This hospital up the road in Johannesburg used to be called Joburg Gen and was functioning quite well,” he said.

“They changed the name to Charlotte Maxeke, and now the quality of care seems to have deteriorated.”

Manuel also rejected the narrative that state-owned South African Airways failed due to bad policy, calling it outright theft.

“Now, SAA wasn’t privatised. It was stolen. We’ve got to call it for what it is. It was stolen and destroyed in the process,” he said.