Eskom: how corruption and crime turned the lights off in South Africa | FT Film
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ค. 2024
- South Africa's state power company Eskom is battling a legacy of neglect, mismanagement and state capture as it struggles to bring an end to rolling blackouts that have severely damaged businesses and the economy
#eskom #loadshedding #powercuts #southafrica
00:00 Intro
00:53 Eskom and load shedding
02:46 The township restaurant
04:01 Eskom's priorities
05:07 The history of Eskom
07:07 The state capture years
08:50 Andre de Ruyter's corruption battle
13:30 Inequality and crime
16:03 On patrol with a pirate security company
18:23 Government interference
19:47 The poisoning
21:49 How to fix the problem
27:30 Inside Shoprite
29:33 The environmental problem
31:16 An election is coming
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It's amazing that every political party in Africa has the identical slogan, namely "It's Our Turn to Eat."
This is why Africa is at war with itself
You must be a Kenyan based on your choice of words while telling the brutal truth.
same thing is happening in the United States. Its just not called "corruption'.
@raymorris8447 nonsense - in SA there is state-wide mismanagement and endemic corruption. A single power producer for the entire country with no redundancy. All courtesy of the utterly inept governing party. In the US you may have a few states that are sub par but hardly nation wide and crippling the entire US
Hilarious but true
A 1 party government permanently in power is the problem. 30 years of failure
Socialism sucks
Yup
True
Singapore has been governed by the same party for 60 years. It’s one of richest and least corrupt countries on earth
@@felipe741a good dictator is better than 10 democracies. The problem is that good dictators are exceedingly rare. Singapore got lucky
Having worked in the electrical utility industry for most of my career I can say that managing powerplants and the grid is complex, but not difficult. It is a problem with known solutions that smart people have figured out over decades. There can be extreme events that temporarily cause problems, but persisent load shedding is only caused by corruption.
Sorry i disagree, corruption is only a part of it...... Eskom BEE management and ANC are NOT very intelligent.
Strange that the previous dispensation managed to keep the lights on, now the people have their freedom, but what else?
I was in Ukraine last winter and it's crazy to think that they managed to provide electricity more consistently than it seems South Africa can. Just think about that. A country at war, where electricity plants were intentionally targeted, managed to provide better service.
@chrislouw9811 Previous dispensation managed to keep lights on. Now people have their freedom, but what else? Spoken like a true bigot.
Same thing in India, at least the northern part of it when I was there. I grew up with power cuts and load shedding as a weekly occurrence. It was so common, we didn’t even wonder about it, just plan on Monday to be somewhere cool. Later on when I grew up I found out almost 47% of power in Punjab was being stolen.
I work indirectly for Western Power in Western Australia, heaps of South African electricians , systems managers and specialists that are ex ESKOM work here now, almost universally they say that ESKOM was a world leader until it was mismanaged and corrupted to death.
ANC messd uo
Our whole country is broken, railways, roads, electricity, water, sewage, South African airways, crime, post office, education etc, etc.. all broken due to corrupt ANC government...
So you're From Perth
ESCOM was only meant for %20 of the population, that were white, now the others are on the grid legally and illegally .that's one of the reasons for the shed offloading .but that part is deliberately omitted not by accident. But just to blame the ANC which is what this video is about. Its not really about ESCOM it's about the ANC
Back in the 90's, I had a friend whose brother was an Electrical engineer with a Masters Degree. He was part of the team that DESIGNED power stations. When the ANC officials entered ESKOM, and placed a moratorium on the building of new power stations, the guy sat around without much to do. a year later he emigrated with his doctor wife.
And that is the story of Eskom. And South Africa in general.
The ANC chased away some of the best skilled people in the world, who also had some of the best integrity in the world, and replaced it with thieves who didn't have the skill.
Next year we are voting them out, yes it will take years to fix the country but we will fix it without the ANC. They’ve had their time and they ruined it.
Why do you only have State owned electricity company ?
Why you don't allow Private companies ?
State owned company are prone to corruption, don't you know ?
Well, Private companies also suffer corruption many times, but it only impacts the Share holder and not the all of country.
@@Charvak-Atheist Actually it was doing well before 2010, things were a mess after 2010 even though load shedding started in 2007 but the messing up of everything started roughly from 2010 or so.
And we actually have private companies hence it is said 80% of SA is done by Eskom. But they all have a deal that after 20/30yrs I think they give the plants to Eskom. So you run it privately for two/three decades but then after that it falls under Eskom. I think this is to control the pricing, I really don’t know I’m speculating there.
And I agree with you corruption is all over, but when it starts affecting the average person then it’s too much corruption. SASOL is also state owned and to my surprise it’s doing well, it generates 5% of the GDP.
@@fancyIOPSASOL is state owned? is it not a private company?😳
@@Charvak-AtheistYou realize this is how most western nations work right? Literally 80% of Canada. BC HYDRO is STATE OWNED and we have the second cheapest power in north america. 7 cents usd per kwh lol.
Most of europe operates the same way.
Private power companies are horrible in many areas. As long as you have a stable democracy, low corruption, it’s better than private power.
Privatizing state owned companies almost always ends badly. See british rail. See Texas where their shitty power grid due to cost cutting from companies killed hundreds of people.
Escom kicked out all the white skills
He said “I can’t even say i am proud to be a south African” “because there is nothing that i am getting from my Govt” so true, so sad.
But naye ke, 4 kids
@@thulanimthembu1164 kanti how many did you want him to have…..it’s a documentary not that his poor.
"Getting from my Govt"?? That thinking is a large part of the problem. We must stand for our 'individual rights' not depending on the Govt. The Govt is NEVER going to care about the people. The sooner people realize this the sooner they can rise.
South Africa is a failed nation. The power grid issues are just one of multiple symptoms of corruption and mismanagement.
thats a lie
so true
It's not a failed nation because we are deliberately being sabotaged by foreigners!
@@marvinrangoaga6813 A lie eh?
So why are investment monies dwindling & reversing?
@@marvinrangoaga6813are you blind?
The voters who keep them in power, don't watch the news or read the newspaper. They won't be voted out. It's that simple
I suggest you read less lies in newspapers and try finding out the truth for yourself. Propagandist.
Even if they did it wouldnt help much. Going through their hardships everyday is far worse yet they still vote ANC - it's pure racism at its best. Their politicians talk about it every day and its ramped up 10 fold during elections. These days the majority are more focused on feelings and emotions than any logic whatsoever this applies to the first world too.
The youth and the less fortunate don't follow current affairs. So sad😢
No, do not blame the youth. The youth haven't been voting the ANC for 30 years. @@lehapanamaleto6059
It's so sad that politicians don't care about human life😢
Only their own pockets
It true with all politicians around the world.
PW Botha was spot on ,,regarding the comrades ,,,,thieves then ,,thieves now,,,,
@@pearls1626 Some are clearly worse than others, I've lived in Germany for 8 years and NEVER dealt with load shedding, not even an hour in those 8 years.
It’s so sad that the people who elect this politicians don’t care about politics 😉
Kudos to Andre de Reyter for at least trying to help his people.
it was a lost cause from the start - the rot is to deep to fix now
Unfortunately this is one of the SH countries that Trump correctly identified.
You are sick
@@mzwandilemahlaba5029You are one of them, so you are unfit to say anything. Another corrupt SA.
You're simply naive.
Same thing happened in Sri Lanka. Corruptions led to the electricity failures. Unfortunately, still the same thing is happening.
Same with Pakistan
Same patterns are emerging in Kenya.
For how long now?
The colonizers opened their utility services to the open market under Margaret Thatcher and the UK is now collectively acknowledging how much of a failure that has been. Now they want to force us down this failed path. Ironically, these colonizers talk about criminal syndicates. These global neocolonizers are the biggest criminal syndicates out there. The very people they call corrupt are getting bribes from them... GTFOH
As a Kenyan who lived in Johannesburg -Lyndhurst in 2007. The city was a first world country City. Many years later it has turned to be something that i never expected!. I believe South Africa will rise again!.
You left exactly when the political shift could be felt and fully came to fruition in 2009.
Though Lyndhurst is still pretty much Lyndhurst.
And the square mile of Alexandra (portrayed in the beginning) is a dump like it always was, though far worse and crowded, as large numbers of migrants continue to flock to it, without much improvement.
SA political and economic strategist Frans Cronje put it well:
_"In the ~400 year modern history, the territory that now makes up South Africa has only ever been governed reasonably well for its totality for a period of 15 years: 1994 - 2009."_
@@agrid2608 That quote sums up what we are dealing with.
@@agrid2608Don't tell the Zulus that, they love Zuma.
To rise again, asks for a better education system - to reap from it in manpower will take at least 25yrs. It's a long term investment in infrastructure, book printing, re-education of teachers not up to standard, more + better training colleges.
To rebuilt infrastructure like eskom, Prasa, the post office will take 20yrs - with dedicated, honesty + lots of money, because its not only trains + tracks, it's an entire industry.
Ditto for the NHI bill - its not only hospitals, it's also the manufacturing of everything hosps needs.
@@firstcomment749 Two generations at least. You can't train the next lot with the skills that currently exist is this country. It is going to take a generation to get it back to where it was and a generation to filter down to where it matters.
Take the police "service", for instance. All the cops with the detective skills and policing skills are all being forced into retirement now, because retirement age is a hard 60. There is no one to inherit those skills. The top layer are all political appointees, not people with policing backgrounds, so that is an entire next generation lost. Trying to instill discipline back into the police and army is going to be a massive battle against unions and human rights commissions.
I'll stop there.
Credit where it's due - FT Films' editors know how to encapsulate the whole video in one final sentence in the final moments. "South African voters are FURIOUS." Commenting as one, absolutely true.
Surely a sign of madness is voting in the same party that's overseen a *3 decade* downfall of the country... again.
Who are you voting for
@patriciajohnson1894 I'm voting #ohm #OrganicHumanityMovement - The ONLY party calling for the #LiberationofSouthAfrica and the #SystemChange of our Constitution which does NOT protect us but only supports Government. We need to have a government "For our People By our People" voting for #DirectElections. From the ground up to President. Each appointed on education, skill & merit. Each held personally accountable for the position they hold. We need Nuclear & Fusion Technology = cheapest, & proven most technologically advanced. Absolutely categorically NOT wind or solar - which is 1000% NOT sustainable 1000% not eco friendly.
@@patriciajohnson1894 I've never divulged for whom I vote - though will say it has never been for the ANC as they were already circling the drain by the time I was old enough to vote. I have voted in all elections since I became eligible in 2009. Sadly, I have only been able to vote tactically as there isn't a party I truly support. It will be harder next year with all the new parties and it not being a good idea to splinter away votes from the big opposition parties. I'm hoping an independent candidate with good bona fides arises iny area.
Being furious, isn't going to change anything. The philosophy of government ownership has to be confronted, until it is, why would the corruption stop, because you are angry with it.
Hopefully the ANC are held to account, they are a bunch of crooks
Who is going to hold them to account?
Will the rain ever fall upwards.....?
anc in complete control......
not sure where this place is at but from what i read b4 and after mandela is night and day.
get it....night and day.
how are the farms doing?
@@nerdyali4154 voters for a start, and then the justice system
In Serbia, the situation appears alarmingly alike. Government officials corruption stands as a paramount threat to both the economy and peace. In my view, corruption isn't solely tied to poverty; rather, it emerges among those less enlightened intellectually and spiritually. In Serbia, the affluent tend to engage in cronyism.
Very well said❤
Our society's place much emphasis on money and power being the marker for a person's value while ignoring the immutable fact that purity of spirit & upholding of integrity & truth in service to all is ultimately, the one true universal currency we are all judged upon.
It truly boggles my mind how this is not general knowledge or part of our school curriculum. It could save us alot of heartache and sorrow.
But as your country is a European state .that same person who made this video would totally ignore it. Or the narrative would be totally different .no issues of corruption would come up. ...
"In my view, corruption isn't solely tied to poverty, rather, it emerges among those less enlightened intellectually and spiritually"..."Our societies place much emphasis on money and power being the marker for a person's value while ignoring the immutable fact that purity of spirit & upholding of integrity & truth in service to all is ultimately, the one true universal currency we are all judeged upon" 👏I think I found my tribesmen in this thread. And the beauty of that tribe is that one is Serbian, another South African, and another Kenyan. If we could have more people join this thought-tribe, the world will be a better place for all of us.
If, like ANC leadership, you're too immature to admit your incompetence then this is what you get. EVERYTHING is going to crap because of this cultural failure 😢
The Energy Minister looks away each time he says the word corruption. His body language indicates he knows about corruption. Sadly the skills are no longer in the country to run the power stations.
It's unbelievable how South Africa has turned out for the worst.
Looking like the beginning of a horror movie for a country that I've been looking up to as a Kenyan. I hope it doesn't go that way
@@panafrican.nation It's unbelievable. This is what endemic corruption can do to a country.
@@panafrican.nation No one is immune to the ruining influence of power and money. Greed and selfishness chokes the life out of everyone. People who value materialistic and temporary treasures more than human life.
Your 1 year old youtube account counts for nothing. A propaganda account directed from 77th brigade headquarters.
Mxim
This documentary is a masterpiece.
this documentary can also be deceiving... the so called renewables are not what S.A needs, somebody have lobbied long enough for that narrative.
Crazy how much South Africa has fallen
Crazy how things fall apart when blacks get to power 🤷♂️
Not really crazy. Nor surprising
We lived there, it was a well run and very rich country, then blecks took over an everything went to the dogs..
@@chrissmith2114 Rubbish, the Apartheid govt collected tax from 100 per cent of the working population but only build services and businesses to serve only 10% of the population- the white minority. You were living in the well serviced surburbs, all whilst oblivious to the suffering of the majority. So bad was their suffering, Apartheid was declared a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.
Those who know, are well aware the ANC was set up to fail. It was saddled with huge debts incurred by the Apartheid regime, the West put a stop to foreign inward investment. The ANC was unable to meet their election promises because they were too busy paying off debt of £35 BILLION! iIn 1996 alone, the ANC paid off £230 MILLION in INTEREST and REPAYMENTS alone! That was enough money to provide healthcare for all, build 300 houses and several schools.
South Africa like most African countries loses a fortune servicing unfair debt, whilst losing money to foreign corporations, who make off with $88 BILLION (across Africa) through Tax evasion, tax avoidance, intellectual property theft, unfair trade rules (the west demands free access to African markets, whilst imposing all manner of custom duty, and tariffs on African goods looking to access the European market place.
The ANC may have made huge mistakes, but they were set up to fail!
It's called cANCa, killed our economy and hurt its people while enriching itself....sickening to watch our country collapse while politicians shepple its people with lies and corruption and mafia styled administration
Now if only South African voters would vote with their heads and not their hearts...
The problem is you think most Black South Africans vote ANC, we don't....now ask yourself why they still in Power? that's the root of the problem.
The 2022 estimates were 81.4% Black South African, 7.3% White South African, 8.2% Coloured South African, and 2.7% Indian South African
Heads? LOL
@@alternativeview99 You do. 80% of black South African voters voted either ANC or EFF by polling data in 2019.
@dannyarcher6370 80%? How many people voted in 2019?
Well let me help you.
66% of the population.
out of which 57% voted ANC, 22% voted DA, 10% voted EFF.
ANC had more votes in Northen Cape, which is 80% Coloured and White...
Gauteng which is Majority Black, ANC won by narrow margins. so atleast 45% of black people in this country don't vote ANC or EFF. But your racism makes you paint all black people the same.
The ANC are really the worst thing that happened to South Africa
That's why you need Malema as president
@@lorylubs6724 he's a byproduct of the ANC....No thanks
I disagreed with you.
@@Queen731. you "DISAGREE" with me. Fair enough
@@jamesmccann355 Thank you.
LOVE these type of documentaries. Bring more of these.
I have given up believing anything that comes out the mouths of any ANC politician or Escom spokesperson.
You may omit ANC and Eskom. I will not believe anything that comes out of the mouths of a politician or spokesperons 😁
Greed and corruption are the bane of every society.
Why would anyone have expected a different outcome? What's impressive is how long the collapse took.
One generation is as expected
All the gains made by colonisation are typically erased by Africans in 20 years. Zimbabwe is the perfect example.
EXACTLY!!!!
I don't expect much from the entire region
Yes we are furious and I'm one to say that I'm NOT Voting for ANC after putting us through this preventable disaster. Our Economy's backbone is on its knees; therefore, I don't see a reason for the ANC to keep governing the country.
ANC has failed in many ways!
Stalin said "its not who votes thats important...its who counts the votes"...They know this!
I lived and worked in Lesotho for 4 years in the early '90s and travelled extensively in SA.
I love SA and it will always hold a very special place in my heart and memories. I will be forever grateful for wonderful kindness and generosity of the South African peoples.
Watching this and videos like it breaks my heart.
very important to emphasize that South Africa had among the 10 or 15 best infrastructure networks in the world up until the 90s, with Eskom still recognized as the world's best power supplier in the early 2000s. corruption is a formidable beast
not quite difficult when your mandate is about 7% of the population
“The best power supplier” Jesus what is with Saffas pretending to be gods chosen people!
Get back in the back of the lines boys!!
Take care of your poverty and corruption problems and then come to speak to the big boys!
Damn!!!
@@shothastar that's not the point - they were given world-class institutions + all they needed to do was expand them. instead, they saw them as cashcows. As the famous ANC expression goes:
"it is now our time to feast"
@@shothastar What about roads and trains that was not just for 7%, whuch they broke as well. Lets stop the excuses and get this corrupt government out.
More propaganda from a 77th brigade TH-cam account.
This what happens when you have corrupt people in power.
Crime in South Africa is really bad.
We went for a two-week trip to the country last month, and we experienced the load shedding frequently.
You talk about crime and loadshedding. Which is which?
It's slowly turning to be Zimbabwe
@@MrEvansjethro Correct. I talked about crime and load shedding.
Righteousness exalt a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. Take away the wicked from the Leadership and the government will be established in righteousness and prosperity. The love of money is the root of all evil. The conversation is about the company and not about those who are supposed to manage and supervise the system. This approach is in itself smell of corruption.
@4-SeasonNature Just like every other country in the world. Say, Dublin riots, for example. If citizens can burn police cars and attack police officers, it is clear that they have no regard for a rule of law. Nonetheless, you've said nothing other than what can be found on the internet. It's not your experience, but a Google search.
O-o Actually.. Strange how after De Ruyter left Eskom. It suddenly was no longer considered "treason", for all the power cuts..
It's hilarious how Gwede has anything to say since he's at the very core of these syndicates and is ground zero for the rot of Eskom.
Funny enough he isn't, the Motsepes, Radebes are at the helm
@alternativeview99 they don't listen to kokos interviews
Delete South Africa, insert Guyana change nothing else and this documentary is still on point.
Imagine making it to Fin Times for all the wrong reasons, what a shame
They have had 30 years, what have they done in that time.
It looks like it will implode by the sound of it.
The ANC started failing the ppl after 2009.before that ,they were a great government .even getting a super majority in 2004
Corruption and corruption will always have Africa moving backwards. It's a rich continent, BUT the greedy politicians and leaders destroy it
Population is responsible for 90% of corruption .
Colonialist meddling. Nato 5 eyes organisation have their fingerprints all over this. Look at the actions of jp morgan in funding the government opposition. And goldman sachs, hsbc, all up to their necks in meddling. Nothing about that in this propaganda. Do yiur own research. ;)
At approx 13:00 the ANA south african Electricity Minister basically revealed why Eskom and the country has problems. The minister didn't make resolution of the huge continuing corruption as a priority. Instead he kept stressing that load shedding was the main problem and not the corruption.
When you take over a house from the previous owner, it's easy to believe that you have acquired a valuable asset and that it will just carry on being a valuable asset, however you look after it. Thirty years of rule by the ANC has shown that revolutionaries make terrible governments. Ideology makes terrible policy. They drove out the experts and found, surprise, surprise, stuff doesn't run without them. Utterly predictable. Utterly depressing.
Every state ( ANC ) run entity is bankrupt .South African Airways , Postal Service , South African Broadcasting Corporation , South African Railways except offcourse the South African Revenue Service which use taxpayers money to bailout these entities every few years.
A government employee who get paid a salary has no impetus to ensure maximum profit. Somebody who gets salary from how much profit he produces will (except in the cases of socialist minded free giving individuals). So (unfortunately) we cannot rely on getting production without remuneration which is why in our selfish morals we need to have private running of a productive enterprise - no SOE. But note that a monopoly has the same effect as you can make money without be economical as you can charge what you want and people have to pay as you only provider.
It took them 30 years to destroy everything.
ANC legacy will be remembered for destroying south Africa
Well said !!
Andre De Ruyter put effort to expose the centre of corruption. Congratulations to Andre
Get rid of the ANC and the EFF!
and DA!
@kitsodube9322 the DA might not be perfect, but if you look at the Western Cape, they have way more and non corrupted success.
@@kitsodube9322 why?
@@PunkDogCreationsyou can ask that again they want South Africa to stay a failed state
So tragic…. And yet they still vote for the ANC. I guess it’s true that a people get the leader they deserve
very important to emphasize that South Africa had among the 10 or 15 best infrastructure networks in the world up until the 90s, with Eskom still recognized as the world's best power supplier in the early 2000s. corruption is a formidable beast
What is the alternative vote for White people who introduced racist apartheid laws, excluded the blacks from all opportunities and then took their lands?
First of all apartheid was introduced in 1948 it was replaced in the 1960s when the ANC came into parliament
Nelson Mandela ended only whit rule
White people have been living in Capetown since 1400s and longer then the Bantu immigration bow the majority
So even if you say the whites wanted their own areas. Why is that? Wonder why? Culture matters
@@sulaak
@@sulaaknot true read my comment
The DA party exist
@@TheMagicJIZZ what alternative history class did you take? ANC came to power in 1994. The first formal Apartheid laws came into being in 1913. White people arrived in the Cape in 1652...
ANC = All Notorious Criminals just explains situation 100%
Hi nato. Hi 77th brigade account.
ANC - ANother Criminal
@@user-pf5xq3lq8i are you suggesting that ANC is somehow NOT a criminal cartel , despite the overwhelming evidence of this fact ?
AC = alternating current. DC = direct current. ANC = absolutely no current.
Another week, another smear on a brics member...yawn. last week India, russia the week before, china the week before that..yawn. About "exclusive" about as convincing as their propaganda on saddams weapons of mass destruction, Or covid vaccines, or man made co2 climate change. All confirmed lies my friend.
And instead of the government focusing on their declining country issues they are thinking about suing Isreal for war crime which I wonder what has to do with their dying economy.
More strange comments about israel from the 77th brigade keyboard warriors in the comments.
Exactly. Their country is falling apart, multiple children dying due to hunger and gang violence, daily. Their focus is on the other countries, so that they can virtue signal and get people’s votes.
Yet ANC is still get most votes. They dont deserve any better. Sorry.
I lived in beachfront apartment complex in Cape Town. There were a couple black who owned flats there. All of them where in politics or close to it and had primary residence around Jo'burg.
Social grants will deliver for ANC
Thanks for covering this Financial Times! Very informative!
Ft = Mi5 lies.
@@user-pf5xq3lq8i Well said! They did it Lumumba, Sankara etc, they are doing it now in South africa
Hah! Welcome to Nigeria where load-shedding has always been the fabric of the economy. It's been that way over 40 years. For the restauranteur, there are battery boxes called the UPS (uninterrupted power supply) - computers, TVs, smaller appliances are usually connected to those. Gives up to 2hrs depending on capacity. And then there's the electricity generator (petrol or diesel). Those things can power your restaurant or home for hours. In Nigeria, every home drills their own bore-hole and treats their own water. Every home has backup power, at least one or a combination of generators, inverters and solar panels. This is how we survive.
Well maybe this is as a result of being run by the same type of people......................
The ANC is essentially the plot of Animal Farm by George Orwell come to fruition
Lol Kenyans always use Animal Farm to describe their political situation. I guess SA is headed the same way😂
True. Animal Farm in action😢
Also the plot of "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
Great insights! South Africa can turn the corner, but it will have to deal with corruption in the Ruling Party.
this was a nonesensical docy, scoped and narrow in its view... all i heared was coal is bad lets go green... now why do we need to go green when half of our coal plants can be revived??? SA doesnt build wind turbines, solar panels and the like, who will services them (extra costs)? good prapaganda i guess for you to even think it (docy) was informative...
the main problem of SA is not too much reneweable energy... it's CORRUPTION and INCOMPETENCE at the highest levels. Don't look for excuses, focus on THAT. Failure to run power plants is not to be excused! @@CodeSleeper
Gee wiskers who would have thought South Africa would have gone down the crapper from corruption 🤔
Sad to see another example of how the ANC is failing the people of SA.
Looks like handing over power generation & distribution to the private sector is the solution in this case.
I think power is something a stte should run because its not about profit but providing everyone and having power safety
But thats not working here so yeah you probably are correct
This is a masterpiece, Eskom needs to reform and save SA industry.
I suspect there is little will to reform. Too much money to he made by the corrupt.
You cant clean a broken toillet have to replace it with a new white lid
Eskom needs to lose its monopoly. Others need to be allowed to build power station and sell to whom they want. Government should only be there to oversee they do not damage environment or exploit their workers and customers according to strict criteria. We need people that have a vested interest in providing power - not someone who keeps their job even when running at a loss.
ANC is A DISGRACE of experienced cadres who deliver fake history, than a service delivery.
" fake history" ?.wat are you talking about
From Namibia 🇳🇦, we buy almost all our power from South Africa 🇿🇦 (Eskom)… very brave people working at the helm of Eskom of late. Salute!
Started watching this now and I have a feeling that FT won't mention the role of affirmative action in creating this mess. Let's see...
Agree very obviously missing this massive point
i don't think they need to mention it , everyone is assuming that is the reason. guaranteed everyone in the comments is silently thinking " I bet it worked under apartheid"
Affirmative action is and was necessary. The advantage of "white people" who were given stolen land, 5 times more spent on their education, jobs allocated only to them and many other affirmative action on their behalf for 60 odd years. We needed to negate this. So we needed to ensure that equal education is given (this was not done - in white/coconut school 25 learners per class - in the disadvantaged schools 50 (down from 70)), if two capable people apply for a job then the "black person" should get it - especially if the hiring committee is "white". But what seems to have happened is that "friends" got jobs. (I have an ex-learner who is an electrical engineer who work in China). So it is not affirmative action but the application of affirmative action that should be examined
@@stephenmcbride1094 skills and competence are more important , let's take another african example , Mauritius . Most whites run the country almost all listed company in the local stock market have white CEO. Yet they make up less than 1% of population .
Did the blacks take the sugar field lands away ? No they didn't , the govt massively invested in education so that both black and Indians can compete in the job market . They did not stole it.
You can't give an industry to segregated people , they won't know how to run the business
@stephenmcbride1094 I'm 60 years old white skinned SA citizen.
1. I have zero stolen land and know of not one single white person I know who has not paid full price for land.
2. This country has been a equitable democratic state for almost 30 years. Run by an anc government that has disadvantaged whites from everything from educational bursaries, to tenders, so simply put "fair and equal" treatment which is prescribed by our constitution.
3. My children were brought up in a multi cultural environment with some black friends way wealthier than them and some less advantaged AT THE SAME SCHOOL.
4. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION is completely race affirming and divisive. My daughter top of province matric no bursaries due to skin color. Our construction business closed due to being too white to earn a living and being told this to our faces. This put many black & white workers out of an income and less tax to the receiver of revenue. How can this be good for our country ? Or any black , pink or purple person?
It's all pure rasism. The rasism most whites voted AGAINST in favor of our current democratic rule. FACT
WHY CONTINUE THE RACE HATRED ? CAN WE NOT ALL AGREE THAT WE ARE HERE IN THIS PLACE AND ALL HAVE TO MAKE IT WORK FOR ALL SOUTH AFRICANS. Please look at your race profiling, your entitlement, your own racial bias
This documentary is very well-done. It's accurate. It is fair, unbiased and lacks that ghastly, condescending western perspective. I love that it gave normal South Africans suffering under loadshedding a voice.
Rama Malete, its the first doc that does not castiage regular law abiding citizens. This doccie could never see the light in Mzansi.
Why has the ANC been allowed to stay in power for all this time??
Slow thinkers keeps on voting them
People voting along racial lines.
Because they have the same skin color as the voters. Sad.
If the President would stop focusing on Israel's war perhaps he could turn his efforts and energy to solving South Africa's internal problems.
🦝
*"We are investigating the corruption and mismanagement of funds at Eskom..."*
Sorry Boeta,
South Africans have watched this movie before, it's not a nail biter for us...
We know everything broken in South Africa:
- will be fixed soon
- we are investigating
- we took out some of the bad officials (but we put them somewhere else)
You all will say whatever you can, so we think you busy fixing everything, then in 5 years time, when we're asking again, you'll say the same stories.
nah they're busy in ICJ distracting South African for their failures
Yikes . People have to be held accountable
Abaye ejele...dis ones r real core criminals.nxxx Mabaqeda balalisa abantu ngama R350.Yoh rulling party.it has cost the country strue.life sentences dats wat dey deserve.
Sad to learn about the energy problems in South Africa!
Having worked there, taught physics, chemistry(physical science) biology and maths to many students ..its painful to watch the country , mandela’s country going down the drain.
The contribution to this is affirmative action policy which encouraged employing only black south africans even when they could not do the jobs.
Affirmative action is there to right the disadvantages people have. For years (generations) they have had inferior education. The hiring people are white with a white perspective different to them. Their homes are not conducive to study. They have to work to help support their family. So we need to ensure that those that rise to the top get better education. Those that rise to the top get access to universities their parents cannot afford. Those that prove capable should get preference for jobs. What we should be questioning is the management of affirmative action NOT the program of correcting the injustices of the past. If we allow the powers that be it will continue to build their "nobility" at the expense of probably capable people.
Very revealing quote at 6:04. “There were huge social inequalities that needed to be addressed, And pouring money into old power stations did not really seem to be the top priority”
Nothing shows the ANCs incompetence than neglecting the national power grid in favor of welfare payments!
South Africa went from a 1st world, nuclear armed nation to a 3rd world $hithole in less than 30 years. WTH happened?
Race realism
Crime and corruption is only 50% of the real story. In late 90' s government strong employment affirmative action for racial appointments policy started the process of decay in technical skills and competence. Up to 2000, Eskom was still technically up to the standard of the US/Europe power industry
it's not like energy production is a highly complex field ( it can be if you use nuclear power plants for example, but South Africa doesn't operate such stations ), corruption is definitely 99% of the issue here.
The use of coal is 70 percent to generate energy. It transition to another source of energy is easier said than done
@@j4genius961South Africa operates a nuclear power station and a reactor for making isotopes for medical and industrial purposes. Also, you underestimate the challenges of operating and maintaining a plant even as simple as a coal-fired power plant. The ANC's plethora of racist laws really did contribute substantially to this crisis as well as to a host of others. The fact this this wasn't explored in this video is just an example of yellow journalism.
@gerhardventer8075 I never said that there's no complexity to it, just that it's not THAT complex. Or if you want there are more than enough people in South Africa RIGHT NOW with the intelligence and know-how to maintain and even expand these facilities, but the corruption at the top means that only the buddies of these useless politicians get the contracts and they have no incentive to do their job properly since they're getting paid regardless.
@@j4genius961 Maybe you should just stop gaslighting people and focus on seeing the world as it is.
Politicians need to realise it is time to stop playing games with the electorate!
One of the best documentaries I've watched in my Life, extremely informative!.
Love from South Africa 🇿🇦👏🏾
Sbu, it put things in perspective. Things are dire
Trust the ANC to find a way to steal 'the wind and sun'.
This is beautiful production. I see the effort we’ll done. 🏆
It's sad to watch this nation take the exact same route taken by many failed nations across Africa.
What should have been a cautionary tale of what not to do has somehow become a model for South-African "leaders"
South Africans need to wake up and kick out the courupted ANC
It would be cheaper for eskom to pay for everyone to have soler installed in there houses than keeping eskom operating...
Yes but how could they enrich themselves as De Ruyter pointed out.
This is tragic. I was in South Africa 10 years ago and it was nothing like this
31:40 you can’t steal Sun and wind which is why the transition is resisted
you can still sabotage them and have your friends repair them.
you mean the solar panels/hydro plants?@@JamesBideaux
@@dbsk06 you absolutely need to maintain wind turbines. It's at least possible to sabotage them, not sure how feasible it is, though.
Sun and wind aka renewable sources of energy ARE NOT RELIABLE, what happens when it is raining constantly, what happens if there is no wind? Any chemical engineering student (Oil & Gas specialism) will tell you, NUCLEAR provides more energy and it is CLEAN! Africa needs nuclear energy for the 4th industrial revolution, but the Europeans are conspiring to prevent that from happening ,because they want Africa to remain an agrarian society, consumers, never manufacturers! They want the coal and uranium for themselves.
Load shedding is a scam for money
FT cannot cover Zim like this…
…so we Zimbabweans use any report on SA to imagine just how much worse our own country must be💔🙆🏾😭
Sooo Sorry to you, it’s Heartbreaking!
@@mystrength5640 this is exactly why South Africa must not fall. If it does… the whole region is dead.
The ANC is a cancer that needs to be removed. As hopeful as this video sounds that there is change around the corner, I cannot see the ANC losing the next election (and even if they do, they will find a corrupt way to stay in power). My heart bleeds for this nation. The best decision we made was to leave SA in 2002 for Australia. I hope i am wrong and things will change for the better.
Well done Financial Times!! Great work!
We are on exactly the same course here in Connecticut, USA. Eversource is a prime example of the same kind of corruption.
No you aren't. Connecticut's problems are mostly weather related. Irritates me when Yanks, usually Republicans try to exaggerate to denigrate their political foes.
Connecticut utility bills are wicked high! It gets minimal coverage.
Sad to continue to see… Appreciate the content!
Andre: The sun and wind can't be stolen
The comrades: Hold my beer.....
I pray South Africans don't let their country fail like Nigeria for example. SA might be the last hope for the continent at this point.
I grew up in Congo and South Africa was a pride for me as a young African to see a country doing so well. But I don’t know how this country keeps going down in almost all sectors. South Africans should blame their corrupt ANC and its leaders instead of putting blame on African immigrants.
Leadership stability isn't the only thing that needed. Political honesty among the citizens of The Repubic of South Africa.
Soon South Africa will be back in the stone age. We build it, they tear it down.
You wish it to be true, but it does not make it so. Propagandist!
You are quite correct!!!
One of biggest impact it has one each south African family...is no power to their fridge and freezer...the cold chain...and when food is not kept cold like milk .meat .veg.everthing we know to find in our fridge and freezer...is at total risk... food security in the home...is put at risk directly every time the power goes out...my family has lost hundreds of rands in food going off due to the fridge and freezer being off for long period of time...
I've also had to throw away food because of load shedding and power outage (izinyoka). I also got really sick after eating food that had been in the fridge after a power outage.
Everything the ANC touches breaks. Eskom was one of the best energy suppliers in the world pre ANC.😊
The part financial times doesn't get is that south Africa is not a democracy
So sad to see our country on the brink of collapse
To have such a special population that’s resilient and always hard working, what could’ve been of us
We should’ve been a first world country 5x over considering our mineral wealth, infrastructure, etc, etc
Thank you to this government for stealing our generations future away from us
Corrupt politicians need imprisonment.
ANC is one of the most corruption Eskom and high price and high crime and job losses I'm tire of ANC . Viva DA viva 💙
The big problem as well is “South Africans think South Africa is too big to fail and it’s superior”
It’s more about denial of what it’s turned and keeps turning to. The country is going down fast and other countries are growing.
ja neh... this docy was about promoting green energy in SA... dont get me wrong, the ANC F-ed up, but thats beside the point of this entire docy which was energy and their solution to the problem is to go green... nonesense, SA has Gas, Oil, Coal (which we are shipping to europe ironically) and now persuing more nuclear plants... we dont need or have to go green rapidly, that is not a solution for the public but big business...
Something that breaks my heart. Before this monstrous war in Gaza, Gaza was known as an open-air prison. I've looked at pictures of it. Even the ghettos in Gaza looked better and were better supported and supplied than places like Khayelitsha and Masiphumele. The failure of the ANC government extends way beyond Eskom, although Eskom has been a huge contributor to the economic collapse of South Africa. The ANC may have built a black billionaire class, mostly out of corruption. The sheer tragedy is the volume of people that have not only been left behind but have been rendered useless through the lack of jobs, education, food, electricity, transport and so much more. What makes it more vomitous is watching Ramaphosa swanning around overseas offering to solve the world's problems when he can't even govern his own country. In a way, South Africa is its own open-air prison. People cannot escape the poverty that the ANC government has inflicted on huge swathes of the population of South Africa.
Interesting that you draw parallels with Gaza when the root problem is the same - greedy politicians who have international ideological support, siphoning off money that is meant to be used to support their people and creating a two-tier society where those who are able to plug in to government cashflow become rich and those who aren't are left to struggle.
10000 % true even more
Gaza's leaders are billionaires. Unlike the rest of the population.
South Africa, despite being one of the most industrialized countries in Africa, remains just another failed African state.
Strengthen your borders Europe, do not import the problem.
Let the world know! Excellent work!
Normally I'm opposed to private ownership of vital utilities, but in this case, it seems there's no other way.
Seeing the statue of Mandela, my first thought was, that’s the one who brought massive levels of corruption, poverty, crime and incompetence to SA.
i am from south africa and i moved to canada coz of load shed
All thanks to the ANC failures. Aftermath of clueless Cadre deployment.