Thami Nompula MBA Dissertation March 2007 - Rhodes eResearch ...
Thami Nompula MBA Dissertation March 2007 - Rhodes eResearch ...
Thami Nompula MBA Dissertation March 2007 - Rhodes eResearch ...
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undergoing a restructuring process that will result in the assets of Eskom and municipal<br />
distributors being housed into six financially independent Regional Electricity Distributors<br />
(REDs). NERSA is expected to play a leading role in supporting the restructuring process.<br />
NERSA is also expected to implement a regulatory regime compatible with attracting new<br />
investment in generation capacity; promoting competition in the generation and supply of<br />
electricity; achieving cost savings, economies of scale and improved levels of service in the new<br />
REDs; introducing cost reflective end user tariffs; and protecting the financial sustainability of the<br />
industry and the interests of over 8 million consumers (National Energy Regulator, 2006).<br />
There are relatively few players in the hydrocarbons industry (National Energy Regulator, 2006).<br />
The industries in question are piped-gas and petroleum pipelines. The gas industry consists almost<br />
entirely of Sasol Gas and the petroleum pipelines industry is dominated by Petronet (National<br />
Energy Regulator, 2006). In the case of the gas industry, the extent of regulatory intervention will<br />
be limited for up to 10 years by the Regulatory Agreement between Sasol and the Government. A<br />
number of private sector facilities include the offshore loading facility in Durban that are owned<br />
and operated jointly by BP, Shell, Engen and SASOL Oil. There are storage facilities in the<br />
Durban Harbour and the Saldanha Bay to Milnerton pipeline as well as pipelines along the Port of<br />
Cape Town (National Energy Regulator, 2006). The Gas Act and the Petroleum Pipelines Act<br />
provide the mandate to regulate and promote the orderly development of hydrocarbons industries.<br />
The nature of regulatory work is unique in that it is regarded as an extension of government work<br />
and therefore permeates all sectors of society. It is important to have employees with the requisite<br />
competences to deliver on the mandate that these agencies are given by the citizenry, especially<br />
in a competitive labour market where specialists and professionals from regulatory agencies are<br />
poached by utilities. To the extent that regulatory agencies rely on the expertise of these<br />
categories of employees, it is important that regulators such as NERSA are able to retain them in<br />
order to effectively contribute towards meeting the socio-economic objectives of government and<br />
the public in its entirety. For example, in the Caribbean, the poaching of knowledge workers by<br />
utilities and other private sector companies is high due to regulatory agencies’ limited resources<br />
(Downes and Husbands, 2003). In the TLDR’s experience, finding and keeping quality<br />
employees has been a challenge where most talented professionals are often courted by other<br />
regulators and utilities, thus contributing to relatively high staff turnover (TDLR, 2006).<br />
4