Come on, Mr Ngubane. You're playing the same game you probably did with your children decades ago. Behave, or else you’ll be in darkness, says Dennis Pather.
I don't know what you think, but I get the increasing impression some of our leaders treat us as if we were children.
Do you remember the days when you were a kid and misbehaved? Your parents would wag an admonishing finger and threaten to call in the bogeyman.
The bogeyman, as you will recall, was that dreaded mythical creature often used by parents to frighten their children into good behaviour.
Common to cultures all over the world, the bogeyman himself differed from one country to another.
In some parts of the Mediterranean, children who misbehaved were threatened with a creature known as * 'uomo nero, a tall man wearing a heavy black coat and a hat that hides his face.
Sometimes parents would knock loudly under the table, pretending that someone was knocking at the door and say something like, “Here comes * 'uomo nero. He must know there is a child here who doesn't want to eat his soup”.
In South Africa, however, the role of the disapproving parent has been taken over by embattled Eskom board chairman Ben Ngubane.
He is so embittered by the excoriating grilling he received from members of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts in Parliament last week, over the running of the public utility, Eskom's questionable coal supply deals with a Gupta-linked company and the real truth behind the reappointment of Brian Molefe as chief executive, he's warning us that if Eskom does not get its way, he's going to call in the bogeyman.
And that bogeyman comes in the dark shape of (hold your breath) load shedding. You know lights out, cold suppers, no TV, emergency lights, expensive generators and a possible population boom the country can ill afford.
Come on, Mr Ngubane. You're playing the same game you probably did with your children decades ago. Behave, or else you’ll be in darkness.
Those MPs in Parliament asking awkward questions about Eskom are representing the people of the country. They're questions that need straight answers, not veiled threats.
I'm pleased to hear you love the idea of criminal investigations at the power utility and that you and your team have nothing to hide.
Let's get the ball rolling, and no more talk about bogeymen, okay? That’s kids’ stuff.
* The views expressed here are not necessarily those of Independent Newspapers.