One way to avert tragedy in SA’s energy sector by Crown Eco Management Jakarta Capital

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One way to avert tragedy in SAs energy sector
Shelfari Group (Crown Eco Management Jakarta
Capital)
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OF ALL Shakespeares meticulously crafted
characters, King Lear is arguably the most
complex a man flawed by layers of rage
juxtaposed by the burden of guilt. At his death
in Act V, Shakespeares critics argue that the
magnitude and beauty of this complicated man is
not measured in a contrived, flowing obituary,
but in the simplicity of swift death itself.
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The name OFlaherty may appear to be the only
faint link between Celtic mysticism and Megawatt
Park, the site of Eskoms headquarters in
Sandton. But long before the procurement
processes at the Medupi coal-fired power station
were revealed to a collective groan of public
disbelief, weak leadership had characterised the
national power utility, with successive CEOs
persistently applying that odious Kumbaya-esque
rhetoric to explain their excessive bonuses in a
culture that was blatantly rewarding failure with
the proceeds of destructive economic exercises.
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When gluttony halted abruptly, the inevitable era
of gout, fear and paranoia was ushered in yet
just when Eskom was staring swift death in the
face, it made a sublime appointment.
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Paul OFlaherty hails from a rich bloodline of
successful accountants, all seemingly obsessed by
detail and numbers that exclusive hole where
truth and reality meet, delightfully inaccessible
to politicians (and environmentalists). Prior to
his appointment as chief financial officer at
Eskom, OFlaherty worked for a construction firm
in the United Arab Emirates if anyone could
decipher the intricacies of industrial boom and
bust, surely it was he.
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There was an immediate sense of urgency and
uncompromising motivation, of the irrelevant and
decadent being terminated and new objectives
being established. Complicated and suffering no
illusions of false modesty, OFlaherty set about
the seemingly impossible task of reinvigorating
the utility as it embarked on a highly ambitious
capital expansion programme while engineering the
restoration of confidence the latter a nearly
futile exercise as a new draft of tariffs would
soon have to be introduced to apathetic and
enraged customers.
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News of OFlahertys shock resignation in
December surfaced only two months before news of
another, more familiar kind broke defective
welds on Medupis boilers manufactured and
supplied by Hitachi were reported, followed by
reports that boiler software technology, designed
by French firm Alstom, had failed not once but
three times.
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Worse still, progress reports reflecting quality
assurances appeared to have been tampered with,
concealing the faults and thereby misleading
Eskom. All these events have threatened to
further delay Medupis commissioning, but cynics
argue that Medupi, by mere virtue of its
political associations, was always destined for
this kind of calamity. For a moment, bandits,
thieves and scorned lovers appeared to gather for
one final act of an unforeseen tragedy, but the
disaster was mitigated by Public Enterprises
Minister Malusi Gigabas damage-control request
that OFlaherty reconsider his resignation and
remain indefinitely.
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Alongside the approval of fracking, OFlahertys
decision in this regard has suddenly become the
most important feature on the energy landscape.
One need only look at the performances of certain
government departments and organs of state and
the impact of unskilled cadre deployment to see
why.
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Can you imagine what the Department of Energy (or
Eskom) would look like with Tina
Joemat-Pettersson as its minister? Or Lulu
Xingwana? The list of departments and other
government organs obliterated by their guardians
and subordinates is an endless well of despair
the SABC, international relations, communications
and state security, to name a few. Some are
broke, some immobile and many ineffective.
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The hiring of snooty European consultants at vast
expense but with little result has rearranged
these departments into a scene of a Captain
Haddock tantrum for whatever reason, a climate
of regression has come about where development is
regarded as an adversary and comment an unwelcome
imposter.
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The hiring of snooty European consultants at vast
expense but with little result has rearranged
these departments into a scene of a Captain
Haddock tantrum for whatever reason, a climate
of regression has come about where development is
regarded as an adversary and comment an unwelcome
imposter.
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OFlaherty is not perfect, and if it is true that
Eskom built its forecasts based on the absolute
certainty of the National Energy Regulator of
South Africa approving a tariff increase of
between 12 and 16 a year, then it reflects a
moment of immodesty and reckless
irresponsibility. But its also clear that
OFlaherty is an enemy of the aforementioned
organised pursuit of obscurity, that hes
intolerant of mediocrity when charm fails,
numbers dont lie (unless theyve been compiled
by lazy or sly German subcontractors).
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The difference between King Lear and OFlaherty
is that the formers obsession with appearances
doesnt apply to the latter Eskoms chief
financial officer is a seasoned realist whose
future with the utility has all the power to
alter the course of its fortunes. He must stay,
and the public should do everything possible to
support this. Source http//twitlonger.com/show/n
_1rka4cm