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Blogs by Keith Rowley
The South African Mining Indaba 2/5/2008 12:48:32 PM
Never were South African politicians and their stooges so transparent in their lies Today I spent several rather pleasant hours in the company of the good and the great of the global mining community and its attendant political entourage at one of the world's premiere industrial gatherings - The Mining Indaba.
First the good - let's get that bit over with. The Australian diplomatic delegation yet again demonstrated just how valuable and efficient government support of Australian industry is. When our Ozzy friends pay their business and personal taxes they do so in the sure knowledge that what they get in return is no less than bloody superb.
As the African business manager of a global Australian company, I was introduced to ambassadors and senior business executives across the spectrum in the mining industry.
Now for the sticky bit. Our egregious South African minister for minerals and energy once again asserted that the debilitating power cuts we are experiencing are the consequence of unanticipated economic growth - BOLLOCKS!!! For the past six years, government forecasts for growth have been circa 6% - our actual annual growth has been nearer 4% over the period.
The fact is that government was warned TEN YEARS AGO of a projected shortfall in supply by 2007 - AND DID NOTHING.
But it gets worse on analysis - MUCH WORSE.
South Africa's power utility, state owned ESKOM, still enjoys a generating capacity 8% in excess of demand. Ideally (according to ESKOM), South africa requires 15% surplus capacity to facilitate scheduled plant maintenance and the occasional breakdown without causing national scale inconvenience. Fair enough - at 8% we should expect the occasional outage. BUT HERE'S THE MEAT:
ESKOM is now so UTTERLY INCOMPETENT that on any given day, 25% to 30% of its generating capacity is down!!!
This is a state owned utility with an CEO earning some US$2 million per annum that can't fix its own toys.
So what do ESKOM and its goverment (clueless) sponsors do? They blame the South African public for poor discipline in power usage - I'M NOT KIDDING - THESE PEOPLE LIVE ON ANOTHER BLOODY PLANET.
It gets worse. At today's mining INDABA here in Capetown, I was truly unfortunate to witness the CEO of Anglo American cuddling up to our incompetent minister of energy and minerals like a desperate, tearful teddy bear and asserting to an international audience that now is not the time to 'point fingers' but to rather obey the governments' earnest injunctions and become more efficient in power usage. This was a downright embarrassment. Shame on you Cynthia Carrol. If one of your executives caused Anglo mines to shut down due to his/her incompetence, I doubt you would extend the same sympathy you extend to our useless minister.
Another rather lamentable aspect of this circus was the parade of senior mining executives who spent much time extolling the virtues of socially responsible capitalism - and detailing at length the enormous commitments their companies have made to the treatment and prevention of AIDS, to the provision of power and clean water to local communities, to the schools thay have established, the housing projects they have finnanced and so on...
Well HELLLLOOOOO!!!!!! Why the hell is industry doing this - why the hell are we paying taxes to governments for doing these things if government is simply passing the buck?
The truth is rather sad. Government run agencies, councils and other public bodies in South Africa couldn't run a pissup in a brewery - they simply don't have the management skills to do so - and before any of my readers decry and vilify me as a racist, know that I have lived in this beautiful country for 20 years - and NEVER before have I baeen anything but a veritable Pollyana in my predictions for the future.
But optimist though I may be (was?), I am sane and honest with myself. The authorities in South Africa need to take a very, very hard look at the consequences of interference in the economic life of the country by the scientifically and economically illiterate persons that make up the bulk of their 'executive'. The golden goose is dying and the only truly advanced industrial nation of Africa is sinking into a sea of candles, rhetoric and communism.
