NATIONAL NEWS - It was once a source of national pride — an award-winning firm that powered South Africa’s mining boom and later brought electricity to black communities left behind by apartheid.
Today, a hundred years after its birth, Eskom has experienced a spectacular fall from grace.
South Africa’s energy giant is crippled by debt, beset by corruption scandals and unable to keep the lights on.
Families and businesses are exasperated by the record power cuts imposed by the utility, which provides about 90 percent of the country’s electricity.
“To South Africans today, (Eskom) represents a source of enormous frustration and ridicule,” said Kyle Cowan, author of “Sabotage,” a book detailing Eskom’s troubles.
A tweet Wednesday to mark the corporation’s centenary summed up the bitter mood.
“We hope you enjoy the cake we made for you,” it said, accompanied by a picture of a bowl of raw cake batter — uncooked because of the blackouts.
Eskom prides itself on its long history, which is closely intertwined with that of modern South Africa.
Its website reminds readers how “the good townspeople of Kimberley,” a diamond mining hotspot, were in 1882 among the first in the world to get electric street lights — even managing “to beat London to it”.
Eskom was set up on March 1 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM), tasked with boosting industry and mining activities.
Gold had been found where Johannesburg would sprung up, and mines required a lot of power to run.
