I predict that in the next 12 months, load shedding is going to become a thing of the past.
Not only because of what the president said in his State of the Nation Address last week, but mostly because of another looming crisis for the ruling party.
Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared our electricity nightmare a National State of Disaster and also surprised everyone by creating a ministry of electricity that will sit directly under him.
These two things will undoubtedly bring massive attention and resources to bear on the bane of our existence, and the thorn in the side of our economy.
Other challenges (of which there are many) aside, if this plan does not solve load shedding once for all, then I’m afraid nothing will.
A State of Disaster will free up a lot of funds, eradicate the red tape and allow for a long-overdue inter-departmental response.
It will be a powerful tool for a dedicated minister whose sole purpose will be to think up ways to attack the crisis – provided it’s the right person for the job of course.
Now for the rub.
This is an angle of attack that could’ve and should’ve been implemented a long time ago.
It has very little chance of failure, and that matters because 2024 is an election year and the ANC has been at a loss for trying to stem voter desertion at the polls.
What better PR coup than to solve the nation’s biggest problem in one fell swoop?
And trust me, when blackouts no longer plague our days, ministers will be paraded before the public to take credit on behalf of the party and the president.
Fundamentally I don’t have a problem with this.
What I do have a problem with is when our reasonable expectations are used against us; when the general public is hoodwinked into believing that exceptional leadership is responsible for solving a problem that was created by poor leadership and that shouldn’t have existed to begin with.
Our electricity crisis is an entirely ANC-made problem that could’ve been relatively easily avoided.
When 1994 rolled around and democracy was finally guaranteed, we had many challenges as a nation, but an unstable electricity grid wasn’t one of them.
In fact, we were in such an enviable position that we could export electricity in bulk to neighbouring countries to prevent them from having to experience our current daily reality.
The ongoing problem was precipitated by brazen and obvious corruption at the very top of our leadership.
The treasonous criminals who vandalise electricity units in the hope of scoring repair contracts, feel entitled to do so because they witness their leaders pillaging state resources.
And they are probably the only ones who will still happily vote for the ANC because it serves their own greedy aims.
Everyone else will need convincing, which is exactly what no more load shedding will do.
Such is the nature of our political landscape.
The ANC’s conduct post-Nelson Mandela means it has gone from liberating a nation, to corrupting its support base, corroding the very values that swept it to power.
I remember a statement made during the “gravy train years” that was something like, “it’s our time to eat”, and a more recent one that goes, “I didn’t struggle to be poor”.
These are frightening examples of individuals in the ruling party who used the ANC’s Freedom Charter as a disguise for their latent greed and quiet determination to live a life of luxury.
If only we had known back then that their struggle wasn’t as sincere as their chants, freedom songs and toyi-toyis appeared to be.
But they sleep peacefully knowing that even if the votes are lower next year, the ANC will in all likelihood remain the largest party with a significant share of the power.
And that’s because there is still a strong emotional attachment to the party that freed a nation from apartheid, even though it no longer bears any resemblance to the morally superior and principled organisation that it once was.