Too much power leads to no power

BY NOW just about everyone should know that no less a person than the State President has apologised ( so that's all right, then) for not allowing Escom to build new power stations. It was a supremely arrogant and ignorant Cabinet decision. Taken some seven years ago by people who, it must be said, knew nothing whatever about electricity supply and its key role in the economy, the result is the cock-up we are now facing: power cuts played out across the country like a bizarre game of Russian roulette. Less well known is the intervention of another group of unqualified, arrogant and ignorant people. The actions of this group has made getting out of the energy crisis even more difficult. The group is called Nersa for short. For those with a sense of humour the group's full title is The National Energy Regulator of South Africa. Actually it's just another bunch of self-important bureaucrats. In its wisdom, Nersa refused Escom's request for an 18% increase in tariffs to fund much-needed capital projects like new power stations. Nersa only "granted" Escom a 14, 2% increase. Don't you just love that 0,2 %? It makes it look as if they knew what they were doing. As Voltaire once said (tongue in cheek) freedom will only come when the last noble has been strangled with the guts of the last priest. Try substituting bureaucrat and politician for a modern pearl of wisdom. Perhaps it is a case of too much power in the hands of the ignorant and arrogant leading to no power in the hands of anyone?