The Editor's Desk - Mon 19 Jan 2026: Mbeki’s load shedding revisionism — and today’s must-reads

Today on The Editor's Desk: Mbeki’s load shedding claims under the microscope, Hartford’s case for smarter non-alignment, Papenfus’s open letter to Mantashe on BEE, a standout Investment Voice piece — and why “peak alcohol” is reshaping drinks giants..PS. You can book tickets for the post BNC#8 golf day sponsored by Shyft, by clicking here..Don't miss out on future episodes of The Editor's Desk. Subscribe to BizNews Premium and get the podcast delivered to your inbox daily..Listen here.Read the full transcript of The Editor's Desk podcast below.Hello and welcome. I’m Alec Hogg. You’ve seen the headlines on BizNews.com, watched and listened to the interviews on BizNewsTV and BizNews Radio — so now let’s talk about what the latest developments mean for your money. This is the Editor’s Desk, exclusive analysis for BizNews Premium members. Today is Monday, 19 January 2026. Glad to have you with me.An interesting story popped up this morning from our partners at MyBroadband. They quoted Thabo Mbeki suggesting that load shedding towards the end of his presidency was a political objective — that it was instigated; it didn’t just happen. I’m not so sure, but he’s doubling down on it.He made a similar point about three years ago, and this most recent address reiterates what he believes. His argument runs along these lines: that in 2007/08 there was a system within Eskom monitoring coal stockpiles at power stations — and that, according to him, these were purposefully allowed to run down. As a consequence, the stations were left without coal and the country experienced blackouts.Revisionist narratives are always interesting — because plenty of people remember other sides of the story. But there’s another angle that’s still not properly addressed, and something we at BizNews feel strongly about.Mark van der Riet was an engineer at Eskom — a coal scientist, in other words — who was responsible for monitoring what was going on with coal. He had a PhD, was exceptionally smart, and had his finger on the pulse of everything coal-related. So when you hear a theory like this from Mbeki, the immediate question is: who would have been responsible for coal oversight at the time? I presume it would have been Mark van der Riet.Van der Riet was also linked to the Methodist Church where my late mother- and father-in-law were members. My father-in-law was an electrical engineer — in fact, Electrical Engineer of the Year a couple of years before he passed. At Bible study meetings, once they’d done their spiritual investments, they’d have tea and cake and end up discussing all sorts of things — including Eskom.One of the people in that group knew van der Riet well and told me the story of how he stood up against substandard coal being pushed onto Eskom. As a result, he was suspended and put through a disciplinary hearing. All of this led to his premature death, through stress and tension, at the age of 56.He had been summoned by Matshela Koko (who was a senior executive at the time) and accused of running a laboratory that was allegedly trying to solicit a bribe to amend coal-quality results. In other words, the crooks tried to flip the script — claiming the lab was corrupt when the real issue was substandard coal being supplied. That’s the kind of toxicity that existed inside Eskom once the Guptas had gained influence.But that happened after the capture period took hold. Before then, the place was, to a large degree, still being run reasonably well — not like the disaster that followed.Mbeki’s bigger grievance has always been that he was warned — a decade before load shedding began — that Eskom needed to start building new power stations or the country would run out of electricity. He was warned. And yet he now maintains that wasn’t the reason for load shedding; that he had organised everything quite well. He reiterated this again over the weekend — speaking to a receptive audience of uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) veterans at their conference.We’ve republished the MyBroadband piece on BizNews today — it’s well worth reading, and you can also look through the videos of the talks.Paul Mashatile featured quite prominently, banging his drum about beneficiation as though it’s something you can achieve by waving a wand. It blows my mind. First, get the minerals out the ground — output has fallen sharply. Then get them to the ports (through functioning logistics). Then get them through the ports and exported. Once you can do that efficiently, then you might persuade the global community to invest in beneficiation.But politicians — with a profound level of ignorance — throw around worthy words like “we must beneficiate” as if it just happens. The problem with ignorance — the problem with Dunning–Kruger-afflicted individuals — is they don’t know what they don’t know. Sometimes I wish people would open a few books, read a little, learn how the world works — and stop being part of the problem and start being part of the solution.Dirk Hartford is doing that for us. Dirk is a long-term lefty who worked in the trade union movement, and he brings a different perspective to the BizNews tribe. He’s also very adept with a pen. He’s written a column for us today that’s well worth your time.I’ll never forget Dirk’s column about his brush with Jeffrey Epstein — a party he attended in Westcliff, on Valley Road. He wrote that Bill Clinton was there — along with a celebrity guest (name unclear in the transcript) — and a bevy of beauties who arrived on Epstein’s private jet. This was at the height of Clinton’s power. Dirk’s recollection left little to the imagination — and with everything coming out about Epstein now, I’d suggest there’s a lot behind the scenes that still demands questions.Anyway, Dirk’s piece today looks at Donald Trump — whom he clearly isn’t a fan of — and argues that, as bad a bully as he is, South Africa shouldn’t get drawn into backing one bully or another. This is the time for South Africa to be truly non-aligned, truly smart, and to put the best people in charge of our foreign policy — people with no ideological baggage who can do the best for our country. I like the way he’s positioned that.There’s also a wonderful open letter from Gerhard Papenfus. Gerhard was one of the “three amigos” — along with Theo de Jager (agriculture) and Corné Mulder (Freedom Front Plus) — who went to Washington to engage with the Trump administration, and then shared their experiences at a BizNews conference nightcap event. It was one of the most fascinating hours I’ve spent at a business conference.Gerhard’s open letter, addressed to Gwede Mantashe, tackles Mantashe’s view that anyone opposed to BEE is a white supremacist. He spells it out in words of one syllable: BEE isn’t fooling anybody. The country knows it has become elite enrichment — and that a very few people have gorged themselves on a policy that has hurt the economy. He points to GDP per capita going backwards over the past decade. In a country where the population is growing at about 1.6% and the economy at around 1%, you’re heading for disaster. The penny still isn’t dropping where it needs to — but perhaps this open letter will help. It’s really worth reading, and it’s on BizNews today.We’ve got a terrific content slate today. Among the pieces is another “Investment Voice” — and we’re looking for a new Investment Voice contributor: someone who can work with us and write well-researched, stock-market-focused articles. We ran an excellent piece yesterday afternoon, and there’s another strong one today by a member of the tribe writing under the nom de plume “The Market Shrink”. The headline should whet your appetite: “The Dividend King of the JSE.”And there’s another piece I think you’ll find very interesting, especially after recent predictions we saw in the Financial Times — including that “peak alcohol” has arrived. This piece argues that drinks companies are sitting on a lake of unsold spirits. It’s not just wine and beer consumption falling as younger generations increasingly move to alcohol-free alternatives. Now, spirits are getting hit too — Diageo and others, like Rémy Cointreau, Campari, Pernod Ricard and Brown-Forman — sitting on what’s described as a $22 billion “aging spirits lake”.There’s an excellent Financial Times piece that trawls balance sheets and income statements and concludes that peak alcohol is behind us — and the future looks very different for those companies. As an investor, it’s something to factor in when you look at your portfolio. Not long ago, cigarette and alcohol companies were bulwarks of many portfolios: highly defensive, steady performers in good times and bad. That’s no longer the case — as we’ve seen with tobacco, and increasingly with alcohol. The “sin” businesses have had their day. Interesting, isn’t it?Set aside a little time today to browse BizNews.com — I think you’ll be royally entertained.I’ll leave it there. Keep an eye on your Premium newsletter for links to our freshest published content. Thanks for trusting us with your time. I’m Alec Hogg. Until tomorrow — cheerio.

The Editor's Desk - Mon 19 Jan 2026: Mbeki’s load shedding revisionism — and today’s must-reads

Related Stories

Gas delays force SA to keep coal power stations running after their sell-by date

SA's electricity system: 300 000 jobs; a flawed system; zero accountability

Eskom, REIPPPP delays, and the cost of blocking SA’s renewable energy transition: Sindile Vabaza

BNC#8 Mteto Nyati Q&A - Power, politics, and the fight to keep South Africa’s lights on