17/08/2026
Not very positive news but this is why our government fire breaks are not done.
The Man Who Plunged Us Into Darkness is Now in Charge of the Fire
The irony is so thick you could cut it with a dull butter knife in the pitch dark. Jacob Maroga just scored a massive government tender. Yes, that Jacob Maroga. The former Eskom CEO who presided over the very first era of national load shedding back in 2007. Now, his company Tefla Group has been handed an eye watering R1.8 billion contract to run the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment’s Working on Fire program.
You literally cannot make this stuff up. The guy who could not keep the lights on is now being trusted to put out massive wildfires. And the best part? AfriForum is dragging the department to court because Tefla Group allegedly has absolutely zero experience in firefighting. No specialist staff. No aircraft. No operational systems. Just vibes and a shiny R1.8 billion award letter.
Let that sink in for a second. We are handing a billion rand national disaster management contract to a company that apparently lacks the basic equipment to fight a braai fire.
Because of this blinding lack of expertise and resources, the department actually had to extend the contract of the previous operator just to keep things running. They basically hired a new guy, realized he did not know how to do the job, and asked the old guy to stay on while the new guy gets paid. It is a stunning display of administrative incompetence. Truly magnificent.
Afri Forum is demanding the procurement records. They want to know exactly how a company with no apparent firefighting capacity magically ticked all the boxes for a highly specialized emergency response tender. The department, naturally, is withholding the documents. They claim there is no binding contract yet because a service level agreement has not been signed. Ah yes, the classic bureaucratic stall tactic.
So here we are. South Africa in 2026. Entrusting our national wildfire defense to the pioneer of rolling blackouts. At least if everything burns to the ground, Maroga already knows exactly how to leave us in the dark.