The public outcry for President Cyril Ramaphosa to cut short his working visit to Egypt to come home and show leadership in addressing the Eskom crisis last week was a reflection of the raw emotion stirred by unplanned load-shedding that has returned to haunt the SA psyche and our prospects for higher levels of economic growth and job creation.

After almost a decade of maintenance neglect, Eskom’s coal-fired generating capacity is old and unreliable. Without major (and very expensive) refurbishment, operational performance is likely to continue to deteriorate...