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The Congress of the People is outraged by reports alleging that ex CEO Jacob Maroga delayed Eskom's price hike as a favour to the ANC. Reports are that the ruling party did not want its image to take a dent in the eyes of the electorate before the elections, so Mr Maroga was asked to stall the price increase application.

It has emerged that Eskom should have made an application for a price increase on April 1 when its 3 year price regime expired. Instead what appears to have happened is that Mr Maroga heeded the call of his master's voice.

Eskom and other state owned enterprises are not tools that the ruling party can use to manipulate South Africans. This alleged episode, if true, was part of a cynical, dishonest and populist menu that the ANC dished up to the electorate in the run up to the election.

The most disturbing aspect of these allegations is that Mr Maroga is alleged to have boasted about acquiring favours from the government in exchange, including a sum estimated at over R25 Billion and exemption from environmental levies in future tariff increases. Environmental levies are absolutely critical in going a little way to mitigate the damage caused by Eskom's policy of using coal as the basis for energy production in South Africa and the southern African region. If these allegations are true, how can the government go to the Copenhagen summit on climate change next week and expect to be taken seriously?

We speculate as to the real motivations for alleged government interference in the Eskom board's recent leadership struggle. Perhaps Mr Maroga called on his connections in the government to protect him from an impending and much deserved axing, and perhaps the week-long information blackout and mixed messages from government about the status of Mr Maroga was engineered so that the wheels of patronage could turn unimpeded by public inquiry.

As far as energy generation is concerned, COPE anticipates further load shedding in the near future, despite the tariff increases. COPE calls on Eskom to go on record with the extent of the anticipated load shedding well in advance, or reassure the public and business that it will not happen.

Government must be more transparent in its dealings with SOE's. We must engender a culture of accountability instead of the current status quo of cadre deployment, which could lead to public service, resource and utility management degenerating into a game of horse trading, patronage and corruption.