• News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Brandstories
Athlone News
The Athlone News (formerly the Athlone Shopper) was established in 1986. This long established popular community title includes the key shopping centres Kenilworth Centre and Gatesville Shopping Centre within its distribution area.
Sections on Athlone News
  • News
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Opinion
  • Brandstories
Our network
  • Athlone News
  • Atlantic Sun
  • Bolander
  • CapeTowner
  • Constantiaberg Bulletin
  • DFA
  • False Bay Echo
  • I'solezwe lesiXhosa
  • Northern News
  • Plainsman
  • Sentinel News
  • Southern Mail
  • Southern Suburbs Tatler
  • TableTalk
  • Vukani
  • DurbanLocal
© 2025 Independent Online and affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Press CodePrivacy PolicyTerms & ConditionsAdvertise with usContact UsComplaints Procedure
Opinion

Nobody invests in a country that can’t keep its lights on

Letter to the Editor|Published 3 years ago

Jasmine Uys, Athlone

It seems that the more we pay for electricity, the more load shedding we get. So many municipalities owe Eskom money, some even billions. Will Eskom ever get its money back from those municipalities? Why were they allowed to owe so much in the first place?

There are rumours we must be prepared for load shedding for the next five to 10 years if Eskom doesn't get its act together - a grim picture indeed for a country with a high unemployment rate and a struggling economy. Nobody wants to invest in a country that can't even keep the lights on.

The president’s announcement that more independently produced electricity will be permitted is almost too little too late. The government should have done it a long time ago already. Let the provinces that are able to generate their own green power do it. Eskom needs competition.

It has long struggled with ancient systems that break frequently, while we are paying more and more for rolling blackouts, and we are all getting sick and tired of it.

Please, government and Eskom, get your act together. The election is around the corner... just for the record.