{"id":474809,"date":"2022-12-22T12:58:57","date_gmt":"2022-12-22T10:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=474809"},"modified":"2022-12-22T22:52:20","modified_gmt":"2022-12-22T20:52:20","slug":"impressive-south-african-that-started-eskom-and-iscor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/investing\/474809-impressive-south-african-that-started-eskom-and-iscor.html","title":{"rendered":"Impressive South African that started Eskom and Iscor"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hendrik van der Bijl is one of the greatest South Africans who contributed tremendously by starting Eskom, Iscor, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).<\/p>\n<p>Van der Bijl was born in Pretoria on 23 November 1887 and matriculated from Boy\u2019s High School in Franschhoek in 1904.<\/p>\n<p>He attended Stellenbosch University, where he graduated with distinctions in physics, mathematics and chemistry.<\/p>\n<p>Van der Bijl left South Africa in 1908 to complete a PhD in physics in Germany. After completing his doctoral studies, he was appointed assistant in physics at the K\u00f6niglich S\u00e4chsische Technische Hochschule in Dresden.<\/p>\n<p>He later moved to New York, where he worked for Western Electric, which would become part of the Bell Telephone Company.<\/p>\n<p>In 1919, Van der Bijl wrote a paper on scientific research and industrial development and related this to the development of secondary industries in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>This paper caught the attention of Prime Minister Jan Smuts, who asked him to return to South Africa and become a scientific and industrial advisor in the Department of Mines and Industries.<\/p>\n<p>Van der Bijl took up Smuts\u2019 offer and enjoyed exceptional powers. He reported directly to Smuts.<\/p>\n<p>With the backing of Smuts, he founded the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) in March 1923 to provide the country with electricity. Today, it is known as Eskom.<\/p>\n<p>At inception, it was a non-profit public utility company with Van der Bijl as chairman.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere lies before the Electricity Supply Commission a great task and a great opportunity.\u00a0 It will be our endeavour to play our part not as those who follow where others lead, but as pioneers,\u201d van der Bijl said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will foresee the needs of a country fast developing and, by wise anticipation, be ever ready to provide power without profit, wherever it may be required.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a  data-lightbox=\"post-image\" href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-474811\" src=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923-600x126.jpg 600w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923-800x167.jpg 800w, https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Eskom-founded-in-1923-768x161.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The project\u2019s success strengthened his vision of an industrialised South Africa, and he dedicated his time to this endeavour.<\/p>\n<p>Van der Bijl saw that the two pillars on which industry would be built were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adequate and economical supplies of electricity.<\/li>\n<li>The production of adequate and economical steel.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>With the electricity supply growth under the Electricity Supply Commission, he persuaded the government to create a second public utility company to produce steel.<\/p>\n<p>In 1925, he founded and headed a new company known as the Iron and Steel Corporation (Iscor), which, like the power utility, prospered under his leadership.<\/p>\n<p>He later saw the need to support smaller private enterprises, and in 1940 he successfully lobbied the state to create the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).<\/p>\n<p>The IDC provided capital to promising enterprises, and he served as chairman during the first three years.<\/p>\n<p>He also helped to make South Africa more self-sufficient and less reliant on imported goods during World War II.<\/p>\n<p>As Director General of War Supplies, Van der Bijl mobilised South Africa\u2019s limited industrial resources to produce guns, bombs, armoured cars, precision instruments, military explosives and ammunition.<\/p>\n<p>Other industries, like weaving, clothing, leatherware, and canned foods, also received a boost. They developed rapidly to limit the country\u2019s dependence on imported supplies.<\/p>\n<p>Van der Bijl\u2019s impact on South Africa is still felt 74 years after his death in 1948.<\/p>\n<p>Eskom became one of the best power utilities in the world, and despite the destruction over the last two decades, it remains the largest power producer in South Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Iscor, which is now known as ArcelorMittal South Africa, is the largest steel producer in sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n<p>The IDC is still operational today and continues to promote economic growth and industrial development by funding high-impact projects.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><em>This article was first published by <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailyinvestor.com\/south-africa\/5739\/incredible-south-african-behind-eskom-iscor-and-the-idc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Daily Investor<\/a><\/strong> and is republished with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"my-4\">Now read:\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/energy\/474637-army-deployed-at-eskom-power-stations.html\">Army deployed at Eskom power stations<\/a><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One great South African contributed tremendously to the country by founding Eskom, Iscor, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341108,"featured_media":474815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80335],"tags":[31722,181,35,83419,29652,83421,83423],"class_list":["post-474809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-investing","tag-bell-telephone-company","tag-eskom","tag-headline","tag-hendrik-van-der-bijl","tag-industrial-development-corporation-idc","tag-iscor","tag-western-electric"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474809"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341108"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":474817,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474809\/revisions\/474817"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}