I wanted to have ‘Lights, camera, action’ as the headline of this article but then it dawned on me that there is hardly any electricity to power the lights; its supply is intermittent at best. As for ‘action’, well, there is supposedly a plan – an Energy Action Plan (EAP). Actually, it is a plan of 50 actions.

The short-term objective of the EAP is to “reduce the severity and frequency of loadshedding by introducing immediate measures to improve the performance of State-owned utility Eskom’s existing power stations and stabilise the energy system”. I’m not sure what length of time constitutes a ‘short term’, and neither is this specified in the EAP. The Cambridge Dictionary defines ‘short term’ as “a period of time of less than one year”. So, a failed objective in terms of this criterion.

The long-term objective of the plan is to “end loadshedding altogether and achieve energy security by adding as much new generation capacity to the grid as possible, as quickly as possible”. ‘Long term’ could be anything from one to ten years, depending on the definition one prefers.

That said, heed the words of famed economist John Maynard Keynes: “In the long run, we are all dead.” Ironically, people who are dying often speak of seeing a bright light.

Returning to light, as it were, the National Energy Crisis Committee was established to oversee the implementation of five key interventions, which are to fix Eskom and improve the availability of existing supply; enable and accelerate private investment in generation capacity; accelerate the procurement of new capacity from renewables, gas and battery storage; unleash businesses and households to invest in rooftop solar; and fundamentally transform the electricity sector to achieve long-term energy security.

Returning to the EAP – on August 6, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa presented a 12-month evaluation of the energy crisis plan, which will require a bit of maths. That said, I am reminded of the old adage: There are three kinds of people in the world – those who can count, and those who cannot.

According to the Minister, of the 50 actions in the EAP, eight had been completed, 20 were on track, two had not yet begun, and eight were “off track, with an intervention needed”. This equated to 56% being on track’ – 8 plus 20, expressed as a percentage. What the Minister is silent on is the 12 not referenced. Why were the 12 not referenced? Which are the 12?

The eight actions that were “off track with an intervention needed” were Eskom plant performance (ongoing partial load losses and breakdowns); combating crime and sabotage; land-use authorisations for power projects remained very slow; grid queuing rules had not been finalised; not all the projects in the Risk Mitigation Independent Power Producer Programme had reached financial close; not all of the projects in Bid Window 5 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Programme had reached financial close; there had been slow progress on further bid windows; and the National Transmission Company of South Africa had still not been operationalised.

According to the Minister, there are three (although the number is not called out) successes, the first of which is the anticipated expedited return of some units at Medupi and Kusile, which were taken out of long-term action. If you need reminding as to why this was done, there was a fire at Medupi and a chimney collapse at Kusile. The second success was the supposed progress made to ensure increased diesel supplies and more funding for diesel, as well as the approval of a debt relief package for Eskom.

There are many who would dispute the increased use of diesel as a success. Surely, this does not bode well for the environment and will be super-inflationary.

The last success is that private investment in energy generation has been accelerated by the expediting of regulatory requirements and the significant progress made in installing solar photovoltaic systems by businesses and households.

If it is success that the EAP seeks, then heed the words of Mark Twain: “The dictionary is the only place where success comes before hard work.”