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The ANC government and those aligned to it were faced with a clear choice: fix the delivery of electricity to South Africa's citizens or protect the job of a deployed ANC cadre. Political loyalty trumped loyalty to the South African public. At a time when Eskom is failing to deliver on its basic mandate, and when citizens must bear the 43% tariff hike that is the cost of such failure, the government needed to act decisively in favour of better delivery. Instead, it chose to fuel a tirade of racial rhetoric which resulted in the resignation of Bobby Godsell and the return of Jacob Maroga as Eskom CEO. Bobby Godsell was given a mandate to turn Eskom around. When he tried to address one of the biggest stumbling blocks to delivery - poor management of the utility - the ANC played the race card to defend their cadre. Not once did the government consider the facts, weigh the evidence, or judge on the merits of the case. In fact, this had nothing to do with the ANC at all. It should have been a decision of Eskom's board. The fact that politicians overrode the board shows that the ANC is totally ignoring the boundaries between party and state. The real story behind Mr. Godsell's departure must be told, because it will reveal the full extent of the ANC's abuse of power. The ANC government is incapable of distinguishing the requirements necessary for service delivery from its own obsession with political loyalty. Every day this costs the country. Today, that obsession has destroyed any pretence that this government is committed to turning Eskom around and putting citizens first.