20 May 1983

[rza]

The ANC were warned some 20 years ago, to build more power stations.

But no, lets rather fill our pockets and to hell with the rest of the country.

The NATS should have built them even more decades before so they can supply the whole country.

 

[rza]

Eskom was plenty good at energy generation but pretty poor at last mile energy distribution. They are a bulk supplier. 10% is nonsense unless you're are trying to say that only 10% of residences were electrified. Eskom provided energy for the entire country and then some. Not quite the same as every household having an electric socket.

But take a look at the electrification of South Africa. It didn't happen in every white household over night. It wasn't in every city or town either. It was rolled out on the back of an economic model. Sure, the economic model of the time favoured a certain population group. But then the argument (as circular as it may be) was that that group could afford the services. Nobody was given free electricity.

Maybe the white part of the country, since I used candles until high school, and I started high school in 1994.

 

[The Voice]

The townships only got electricity when the ANC took power.

So what you're saying is that the ANC government was able to miraculously increase the number of households with electricity by 40% in their first 2 years in power, but only by a further 30% in the 18 years that followed? That doesn't say much for the efficiency of an ANC run Eskom.

 

[etienne_marais]

Quote Originally Posted by Albereth View Post
Eskom was plenty good at energy generation but pretty poor at last mile energy distribution. They are a bulk supplier. 10% is nonsense unless you're are trying to say that only 10% of residences were electrified. Eskom provided energy for the entire country and then some. Not quite the same as every household having an electric socket.

Maybe the white part of the country, since I used candles until high school, and I started high school in 1994.

You are not following his reasoning. He is saying that the distribution of electricity was nationwide but that shacks, huts and some buildings were not connected to the grid.

 

[R13...]

The NATS should have built them even more decades before so they can supply the whole country.

They didn't need to because they were only planning to supply only a small part of the population. They were running a reserve margin of 55%. That's why there were so many abandoned transmission lines and they needed to mothball part of the generation capacity, such was the artificial oversupply.