Eskom has put out a tender for a new logo.
They can’t keep the lights on. Our matriculants are writing exams and having to study with stage 6 load shedding – and Eskom wants to spend money on a new logo.
Are these people serious? Is this perhaps an April Fool’s Joke?
I honestly feel like I am living in the Twilight Zone, because this is downright bizarre!
South African consumers are struggling with the high cost of living and are drowning in debt.
Capitec, which has 21 million customers, said it has put in place stringent credit-granting criteria in reaction to elevated levels of cash stress experienced by clients.
Bad debts surged 62 percent to R4.7bn.
This is in line with impairments reported by other banks.
Standard Bank’s credit impairment charges in the six months to June leapt 42 percent to R8.4bn.
Standard Bank also reported that its credit loss ratio, the amount of loan losses relative to its total loans, rose to 97 basis points (bps), near the top of its target range of 70 bps to 100 bps.
Absa in its interim results reported a 60 percent surge in total credit impairments to R8.3bn, while Nedbank’s increased 57 percent to R5.3bn.
All South Africans are facing the brunt of increased interest rates and fuel prices and are expected to pay more for their food, vehicles and homes.
Nedbank’s latest NedFinHealth Monitor shows 76 percent of South Africans said their expenses increased in the past 12 months, while 62 percent said their spending equalled or exceeded their income.
Regarding social grants, SA now has nearly 19 million citizens surviving on permanent government social grants. Additionally, an average of 8.5 million beneficiaries are receiving the R350 Covid-19 Social Relief of Distress grant.
Though I am not a supporter of the Democratic Alliance (DA), taking all of the above into account, I have to agree with this recent statement put out by them with regards to the tender for the new Eskom logo.
The statement reads: “The DA rejects, with the contempt that it deserves, a tender issued recently by Eskom in which they are asking suppliers to provide services for the design of a new logo and the development of a new corporate identity.
“This is a completely unnecessary vanity project that contributes nothing towards solving South Africa’s load shedding crisis and neither does it help consumers who are struggling to pay sky-high electricity prices.
“The DA is calling on the acting Eskom CEO, Calib Cassim, to immediately rescind this tender as it amounts to frivolous expenditure. Eskom’s response to consumer pleas that they cannot no longer afford the entity’s expensive tariffs, after they imposed a 31.4 percent tariff increase early this year, is to go and fish for a fresh new look to match their new windfall.”
The statement goes on to say: “With Eskom keeping the country on edge with their repeated warnings that load shedding can be introduced on a short notice, it is astounding that their priority at the moment is a logo change.
“Instead of looking for ways to increase generation capacity and do away with load shedding permanently, Eskom thinks it is necessary to focus their strategy on sprucing up their image.”
According to the DA, South Africans are currently going through one of the worst cost-of-living crises in recent memory, thanks in part to Eskom’s issues.
The DA says: “This is after taxpayers have spent over R180 million bailing out Eskom with no corresponding improvement in the supply of electricity. Early this year, R254 billion of Eskom’s debt was taken over by the government and is now the financial burden of overstretched taxpayers.
“One would assume that Eskom would at least show some level of corporate remorse by spending taxpayer money responsibly.
“Through this logo and rebranding contract, they are probably going to spend millions of rand on money that could be better spent elsewhere. Cassim should do the right thing and cancel this tender as a matter of urgency.” Statement ends.
Eskom and the South African government must get their priorities straight and their act together.
The citizens of South Africa deserve better than this. We don’t need a new Eskom logo – we need uninterrupted electricity.
Take the money you have set aside for a new Eskom logo – and instead put that money into fixing your output problems – and giving us more electricity at cheaper rates.
I really don’t think this is asking for too much. I pray that logic and decency prevails.
dailyvoice@inl.co.za