Speaker, on the evening of 9 February this year, Eskom conducted a maintenance test on one of its turbine generators near Witbank. The test resulted in the destruction of the generator, which carries a replacement cost to taxpayers of approximately R3 billion, as well as the loss of 600 MW in generating capacity for a year or more while a new generator is being manufactured in France.
Gross incompetence or a lack of skilled staff seems to be the chief culprit here, as we do not understand why the generator was not shut down when its safety mechanism failed.
The IFP vehemently opposes the culture of unaccountability that is developing in all of our public enterprises and urges government to set up an independent task team to investigate this incident at Eskom. Thank you.