kykNET documentary investigates: What exactly happened at Eskom?
Load-shedding, corruption, and corporate mismanagement at Eskom has been in the news for numerous years. At times, there is no electricity for up to eight hours a day. Winter is on its way, and frustrations are running high. South Africans are feeling helpless as it seems as if there is no light at the end of the tunnel.
On Sunday 2 April at 20:00, a new documentary – 'Onthul: Kragreus Op Sy Knieë' – will have an in-depth look at Eskom, the reasons why it is in the state it is, and how it affects South Africans across the board. It will be broadcast on kykNET (DStv Channel 144).
All these aspects – corruption, load-shedding, corporate mismanagement, and the like – will be discussed from the perspective of how it impacts our daily lives. With this Onthul documentary, viewers will get the background of the problem as well as perspectives on a possible way forward.
'Onthul: Kragreus Op Sy Knieë' is part of the investigative documentary series 'Onthul' produced by IdeaCandy, the production company also responsible for the Showmax hits 'Devilsdorp' and 'Stella Murders'.
The first news documentary in the 'Onthul' series, 'Onthul: My Pa Het My Nie Verkrag Nie', was aired in July 2022 on kykNET. This hour-long documentary looked at the case of Abrie Raaths who was found guilty of rape and sexual assault of his daughter, Megan. In February 2023, the second 'Onthul' documentary, 'Onthul: Skurk of Samaritaan?', looked at the life and career of the controversial businessman Louis Liebenberg.
When André de Ruyter, the former head of Eskom, had a lengthy interview with eNCA in February 2023, he made several claims that had the country reeling in disbelief. South Africans realized just how enormous the problems at the state entity are.
'Onthul: Kragreus Op Sy Knieë' looks at how load-shedding started and discusses the consequences with representatives of Solidariteit and Cosatu. South Africans want to know how long load-shedding will continue, why it is happening, and what they can do to lessen the impact. These questions are answered from a practical as well as a political and historical perspective in interviews with, among others, Connie Mulder (Solidariteit), Willem Els (Institute for Security Studies), and Dirk Hermann (Solidariteit).
There are also interviews with Eskom employees – from technical teams on the ground to the head of the Kendal power station and the Chief Operating Officer of Eskom, Jan Oberholzer. They talk about how they are treated by the public and what it takes to fulfill their work obligations under almost impossible circumstances.
With the general election of 2024 around the corner and a political landscape where corruption is apparently a daily occurrence, there are also interviews with Kyle Cowan, writer of 'Sabotage: Eskom Under Siege', and financial journalist Antoinette Slabbert to try and make sense of all the allegations of criminal activities in and around Eskom and the crime cartels allegedly running the show in Mpumalanga.
In the end, this is a problem that affects all of us. EskomSePush is constantly flashing alerts on everyone's phone, and South Africans, across the board, need to be empowered by the facts to understand this crisis. When we know what we're up against, we can start working together toward a solution.
'Onthul: Kragreus Op Sy Knieë' is on kykNET (DStv Channel 144) on Sunday 2 April at 20:00.
Watch the trailer below: