The Govt wanted to bring other Power Production players in,which did'nt happen as the Internationals, quite rightly, were'nt prepared to invest where the buyer set the price.
Eskom,faced with the threat of competition,stopped expansion.
They also were the foremost facilitator of AA which drove huge amounts of skill overseas( remember the coloured Engineer who took Eskom to Court and lost because he was'nt black enough??)
Lack of skills and management meant maintenance fell behind, The coal Transporting Companies werent disadvantaged enough so they got fired, new BEE Companies were given the contracts at Rates per ton that were impossible to make any real profit from so the BEE Coal transporting Companies did'nt maintain either their trucks or the roads so in January this year Eskom was down to virtually no coal and then had major System failures due to Lack of maintenance.
As to maverick's comment, Domestic consumption only consumes 30% of Eskoms production.
The ANC were warned that the Government had to spend on infrastructure, they just figured we could run another extension cord to a lamp post.
Eskom also supplies virtually all of Zimbabwe's power,for which we have'nt been paid in 10 years.
The problem is exponential,the pumps at the sewerage works that drive the filtration process are electric,at the main one in Gauteng there are 395 pumps and only 30 generators for emergencies,The pumps at all Stations have not had any maintenance schedule adhered to in 7 years, if the Pumps break down or do not pump then the Drinking water system is breached with raw sewage. to date 80 children have already died in the Eastern Cape,
however, we are told there is no problem.
Maverick, if every household in SA was electrified, consumption would only increase by 11% of Eskoms Production.
The other problem is that with the power out, you have no electric fences or gates.