LET 'EM LOOSE

IF ever evidence was needed to prove the obvious -- that private initiative and the profit motive were the prime engines of change and progress -- South Africa's energy crunch provides it. Since it became generally known that economic growth and poor planning in the last ten years meant a massive and growing energy gap, every man and his dog have come up with a plan; pipeline companies have sprung up; plans for refineries have been announced; power station plans have been unveiled. You name it, there is someone planning it. Of course, there are some chancers among those who plan to fill the energy gaps. And some of them seem to be coy about where the money will come from. But there sure is a lot of mental energy being directed at the problem. The latest announcement is that Sasol plans a R2,5 billion gas-fired power station at Secunda. The gas will come from Pande in Mocambique. The money will come from the cash Sasol has been accumulating from its stranglehold on the inland fuels market. All this is good news, of course, but how much will turn into facts on the ground is another mater. Timing is an issue too. For reasons Spigot can never quite fathom, we still place massive bureaucratic hurdles in the way of people willing to grow our economy. There are reported to be 100 different schemes to build co-generation power plants. Why not just let them get on with it? Silly question.