FOUR-YEAR POWER SHOCK

We got an ‘electric shock’ last week when told that Swaziland does not have an independent source of electricity because an application by the Swaziland Electricity Company has been waiting for authorisation for four years.

During these years we have been subjected to load-shedding schedules imposed on us by South Africa’s Eskom, have had to endure high consumption costs while potential investors connected with countries with cheaper power supply.
But why?

The acting commissioner of mines has said all mineral rights applications are subjected to due processes and that the delay on this application was not deliberate.
What due processes take four years?

Why has this not been high on the list of government priorities over these years?
What exactly needs to happen for government to realise that its reactionary approach to almost all the essential national requirements is detrimental to the country and to the economy?

Currently, Swaziland imports about 80 per cent of electricity from Eskom and stands as one of the countries on the continent which are moving slowly in coming up with strategies to curb power shortages.

Infrastructural development is about more than constructing state-of-the-art facilities but needs to go deeper and look at the continued viability of these structures by ensuring we have the power to keep them running should Eskom suddenly decide to pull the plug, as it has repeatedly warned in recent times.
Why has the application by SEC not been approved?
Is it awaiting kickbacks?

History has proven that this level of apathy from our government is not restricted to one sector but is so widespread we are more surprised by progress and go as far as celebrating it because we have become so used to excuses and explanations instead of action. At this rate, it seems we may only get round to attending to this application in 2024, once we are firmly settled into a candle-lit First World.

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