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At the moment we are covering Eskom and load shedding as it is obviously the biggest news right now.

http://www.energynew.co.za

Power Shedding is back, at least in Gauteng. I’m not sure what is happening in the rest of the country but I presume it happening everywhere. I’ve listened to the traffic reports this morning, spoke to some people and received a lot of report of inconvenience and disruptions.

We called the Powergroup into life during January this year in the mist of Load Shedding. Shortly thereafter Load Shedding stopped and everybody was happy again. This weeks Load Shedding according to Eskom is due to ‘n sudden demand of Electricity due to the cold weather. This of course is just ‘n forerunner in the small for the winter on hands. What’s happening now will just repeat on a much bigger scale in the winter to come. In the mean time at least 4 of Eskom generators are out of commission. This just reflects back to the reports brought out by http://www.forensies.com which indicated a lack of planning and maintenance on the whole Electricity grit.

In the mean time Eskom shifts the blame to the consumer. They show their teeth and indicate if we do not use less power we will feel their grunt. I agree, we must use less electricity to get through this crisis, but we must also demand heads to roll of people who are the authors of this crisis and replace them with competent people who does not only do the talk, but also do the walk. If one’s look at Eskom’s financial statements it is clear on their own account that they are the only authors of the electricity crisis.

Million of people had billions of damages due to mismanagement of Eskom and it is time to claim back that was taken away en pressurize Eskom and Government to implement a plan of action and not just talk about it.

I spoke to a lot op people who indicated that what will it help to take on a giant like Eskom. There is a duty on everyone of us to act now. If we do not act we will give Eskom and the Government the green light to proceed with mismanagement. Just look at our roads, look at our municipalities, look at the state of our rivers, and look at the state of service in government organizations. Government organizations are kept alive by business that is forced to do the work of Government officials if business wants to keep the economy alive. I see at the Masters Office, Magistrate Courts, and Municipality Offices. How long will we tolerate this?

I’ve been criticized that I am using emotions and religion to make profit out of an unfortunate crisis in the country. I’ve been criticized that I am busy with touting. I believe that God uses people to bring change about. This means that God will use people to turn our country back to the country it is supposed to be. I am willing to stand up and make a difference. Are you?

If everyone runs away from the problems in our beautiful South Africa with all of its opportunities, I will stil be here because I believe in this country. I know what God has in store for this Country and I know that I’ve got a purpose in this country, do you?

I the mean time Eskom bosses cant wait for the 31 of March 2008 due in 13 days when they will receive an huge bonus of more than R10 Million for allowing this Electricity crises and all we can do is complain, criticize en point fingers but doing nothing, I repeat nothing at all. When will we wake up? When will we put our money where our mouth is?

Powergroup is waiting in anticipation for South Africans and anybody who wants to make a difference in this beautiful country. Powergroup with their experts http://www.forensies.com are already in the position to prove in court that Eskom was negligent in managing electricity in South Africa. According to their own financial statements there is more than enough money available to build more power stations and to pay out damages to people who have been hit hard by this crisis. This has been so for the last 10 years. If we do not act, where will we be in 10 years?

If we unite and stand together we will be the Giant who can force Eskom and Government to act now and we can be through this crisis before we know it. Thereafter we as citizens wil be able to force municipalities and governmental institutions to perform the duties and restore our country to the state it is supposed to be.

Riaan Oosthuysen
http://www.powergroup.org.za

To read more visit http://www.powergroup.org.za under heading ESKOM MANAGEMENT TO RECEIVE “PERFORMANCE”
BONUSSES

It is now time to stop payout of the bonuses. Voice your concern. Visit http://www.mypetition.co.za.

Newsletter with recognition of http://www.forensies.com a partner of Powergroup. Contact us if you want to partner with Powergroup.

Riaan Oosthuysen
http://www.powergroup.org.za
http://www.mypetition.co.za
http://www.reoproks.co.za

The problem with the South African legal system is that it is inaccessible to most people due to te cost involved to bring a matter to trial. The more complex the matter, the more costlier. Litigation become more expensive if one would challenge a big organization like Eskom. Compiling of all documentation, instructing expert witnesses, senior counsel, etc could results in hundreds of thousand of Rands if not a million or more.

The solution lies in a combined action where thousands of people join hands to generate the finances to take on a big giant like Eskom or even the Government. Each individuals contribution will lead to enough money becoming available to foot a bill of this magnitude.

During the past few years we witnessed degrading of all Government services and tolerated it, but now we have been hit very hard, where it hurts. How long are we willing to tolerate this situation.

The Powergroup has been called into life to invite as many as possible people, companies, entities to join hands to bring a united action against Eskom / Government. An action of this multitude will have similarities to the United States version of a class action, but will be based on a dilict and not the enforcement of an infringement of a right in the Bill of Rights. Although indirectly some of our rights in the Bill of Rights has been infringed due to power shedding this will not be the basis to bring the action against Eskom / Government, but the infringements could form part of the particulars of claim.

On all probabilities Eskom realized approximately 10 years ago that steps needs to be taken to expand their network to keep on supplying electricity to the end users. As a matter of fact, the President has publically admitted that the fault for the current situation lies with the Government. Although the Government did not adhere to Eskom’s request to increase South Africa’s electricity generating capacity, Eskom most probable acted negligent in not taking steps to pressurize Government and proceed with the necessary steps to avoid a national disaster as we have now. We are of the opinion that a strong case of negligence could be made out against Eskom for failing to maintain the electricity network as it is, furthermore failing to employ and keep in employment enough well trained experts to maintain the failing network.

If we unite, we can voice a big outcry, recover damages en pressurize Eskom and Government to implement well planned and informed plan of action to rectify the crisis as soon as possible.

Some companies and attorneys already offered their expertise to assist the Powergroup in administration an action of this kind of multitude.

Although damages will comprise of several different topics, there would be thousands of the same kind of damages. Several different quantification of damages will be drafted but the delictual basis of the action wil be the same.

In terms of the Electricity Regulation Act 4 of 2006, Powergroup will be able to lodge a complaint inquiry with the National Energy Regulator on behalf of thousand of people, monitor the process and take appropriate legal action where applicable.

Riaan Oosthuysen
Powergroup