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Spotlight on bankrupt Eskom’s multimillion ‘vanity project’
The DA has slammed Eskom's multimillion-rand logo and rebranding tender as 'a completely unnecessary vanity project'.
Eskom has issued a multimillion-rand tender to design a new company logo and develop a new corporate identity. Photo: iStock
Does Eskom really think that a rebranding exercise could sweep a decade of load shedding and relentless tariff hikes under the carpet?
Add to that the embattled power utility reporting a massive loss of R23.9 billion for the 2022/23 financial year on Tuesday, and one could “rebrand” Eskom as bankrupt and dysfunctional. For free, gratis.
Eskom, however, has issued a multimillion-rand tender for the design of a new company logo as well as the creation of a new corporate identity.
ALSO READ: Eskom records R23.9bn loss due to poor plant performance, IPP delays
Eskom rebranding tender project
The news of the tender sparked an outcry from the Democratic Alliance (DA) this week, with the opposition party’s public enterprises spokesperson, Ghaleb Cachalia, dismissing the tender as a “vanity project”.
“This is a completely unnecessary vanity project that contributes nothing towards solving South Africa’s load shedding crisis.
“Eskom has been bankrupt for a while now and has been kept afloat by taxpayer-funded bailouts, the most recent of which was the R254 billion Eskom debt takeover by the government, which will worsen the country’s already precarious debt burden,” Cachalia said.
“It is therefore simply astounding that it sees a logo change as a priority when they are literally surviving on taxpayer money.”
He called on acting Eskom CEO Calib Cassim to immediately rescind this tender as it amounts to frivolous expenditure.
ALSO READ: Eskom still not producing enough power to meet typical demand – energy analyst
‘We do recognise there is some concern’
Following the release of its annual financial results on Tuesday, Cassim attempted to address the elephant in the room.
He started off by saying: “We do recognise there’s some concern around [the tender]”.
Cassim then explained that the tender is not only about Eskom’s logo but also about brand identities for the three separate divisions which will be created when government’s plan to legally separate the ailing SOE into generation, transmission, and distribution companies is executed.
“So [the tender] doesn’t just relate to the transmission company,” he emphasised.
“The tender closes on 2 November. Let the tender close. We’ll evaluate it through the process and then decide on the way forward.”
He added that just because there is a tender doesn’t mean it would result in a contract, although “there’s a budget”.
Cassim did not reply to questions relating to the budget.
However, according to My Broadband, Eskom stated in its tender document that agencies tendering for the project should assume a budget of R5 million per entity in their presentations.
Eskom ‘has lost sight of its strategic purpose’ – DA
The DA’s Cachalia clapped back at Cassim’s response, stating that the power utility “has lost sight of its strategic purpose”.
“Despite running a multibillion-rand loss, Eskom had the audacity to issue a tender asking service providers to provide services for the design of a new logo and the development of a new corporate identity for Eskom and its subsidiaries,” Cachalia said.
“This corporate dissonance is clear evidence of an organisation that has lost its way and has lost sight of its strategic purpose, which is to provide electricity.”
And with load shedding being back with a bang after the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup victory this weekend, the people of Mzansi could probably conjure up some telling logos of their own for Eskom… For free, gratis.
