'The government needs to make the energy field open to competition'

The Free Market Foundation's Chris Hattingh says we need IPP's that will generate electricity and distribute to citizens.

According to The City Press, U.S. engineering consulting firm Black and Veatch is responsible for delivering shoddy work at Eskom's Kusile Power Station in Mpumalanga.

Despite this, Eskom is still paying the company hundreds of millions of rands.

Read: Matshela Koko says 'Eskom is in big, big trouble'

Researcher at the Free Market Foundation Chris Hattingh says it shouldn't come as a surprise that all these revelations about Eskom are coming out.

We know how lucrative it can be to be involved in the whole distribution and power generation process of Eskom. It is clear that we are not going to get a buyer for Eskom, so the talk of privatisation might not even go anywhere.

Chris Hattingh, Researcher - Free Market Foundation

I think at the very least the government needs to make the energy field open to competition. We need Independent Power Producers to come in and generate electricity and distribute it to citizens.

Chris Hattingh, Researcher - Free Market Foundation

Because right now, Eskom has the monopoly and no matter how well or how badly they do, South Africans are affected.

Chris Hattingh, Researcher - Free Market Foundation

He adds that at this stage and with all of Eskom's debt if the country doesn't move to Independent Power Producers, the job losses for the country will be astronomical.

Listen below to the full interview:

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