Why should entities such as Eskom, which depend on our hard-earned taxes and have misused them seriously in the past, continue to piously treat the public as fools? This is the height of arrogance.
When it emerged that the church of the chairperson of its board, Mpho Makwana, where he is a secretary-general, owed Eskom millions – and yet its electricity was still on – Eskom brazenly and disdainfully told the public he was ‘not responsible’ for paying the accounts of the church.
But no one was saying that. What is at stake here is that here is a man who had recently been appointed, hurriedly, to be chairman of this huge parastatal which has many problems, and his church is not even abiding by Eskom’s demands. Surely, if he is the secretary-general of that branch of the church, he must have become aware that it owed Eskom – the entity he leads.
Why did he not take measures to see to it that this matter did not bounce back to him, and urge his church to pay?
This is very serious. How will consumers respect Eskom’s calls that they pay for their electricity when those in power at the utility are brazenly acting like this?
Part of the problem is the hasty and opaque way in which Makwana was appointed. In a matter of weeks, Pravin Gordhan told us this man would be the leader of Eskom.
What processes were followed to vet him and see whether he was fit for this job? The arrogance of power was in play: Gordhan told the public about the decision, and we are expected to lump it.
It is precisely this kind of attitude – which ironically has been heaped as criticism on the Zuma Presidency – which continues under new players who will lead the country nowhere.
Matters of principle have nothing to do with particular individuals – if they are undermined, this is abhorrent and repugnant, no matter who engages in them.
It is now clear – besides the opprobrium heaped on Jacob Zuma, and he must take responsibility for his sins – there are many politicians/ officials still around who are exactly like him.
* Dr Thabisi Hoeane, Pretoria.
** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Media.
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