The privatisation of Eskom without a clearly formulated energy policy will be just as disastrous as the continuation of public bailouts for Eskom, writes Ralph Mathekga.

Once upon a time it made sense for the state to create gigantic monopolies with the sole of purpose of regulating what was considered critical services in society. This applied to sectors such as energy, transport, rail, and communications in some societies.  

The main reason for this type of development trajectory was the idea that those sectors are so important that the services they provide should be available to every citizen irrespective of the markets. Those are critical areas of life are considered matters of "national security" and the sectors therefore had to be protected from competition in the markets. 

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