LETTER: Competence or demographics — the choice is the state’s

SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu) general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi has issued a heartfelt plea for an efficient, cheap flow of electricity from Eskom. He says private, capitalist electricity will force up prices. He came across as almost nostalgic for the previous effective, low-cost Eskom.

We all hanker for our bygone, world-class Eskom. What is happening, however, is not sabotage by Eskom. The slow motion collapse is due to the (unwitting) undermining of Eskom by the race policies of the ANC.

There are two ways for us to run Eskom (or anything, for that matter): demographics, i.e. race, as the criterion for employment, or competence. Socialism, including state enterprises, requires the highest levels of competence. It requires the best person in top roles — not the best black person. If these criteria coincide, so much the better, but socialism demands competence.

Socialism is, in fact, more difficult to implement effectively than capitalism. It requires that government plays the role of enterprise development and management, which is not its core strength.

The decline of Eskom (and the other state-owned enterprises) is irreversible as long as the ANC insists on race as its central tenet. We therefore have the ironic outcome that the race-based policies of the ANC cause the SOEs to default to capitalism, as they can no longer function effectively.

This should not surprise us: whatever its faults, competitive capitalism is synonymous with competence. No country, whether capitalism or socialist, can thrive if competence is not foremost.

Willem Cronje
Cape Town

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