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| The Government Gazette of 6 March 1923 announced the establishment of The Electricity Supply Commission (Escom), effective from 1 March 1923. Dr Hendrik Johannes van der Bijl, a leading research scientist appointed by the Smuts government as a "Technical Advisor on Industrial Development to the Department of Mines and Industries", was appointed first Chairman of Escom. The Commission was made responsible for establishing and maintaining electricity supply undertakings on a regional basis. Electricity was to be supplied efficiently, cheaply and abundantly to government departments, railways and harbours, local authorities and industry. The Commission met for the first time on 20 March 1923 in Cape Town. The Commission’s headquarters opened in Johannesburg on 1 May 1923 on the first storey of Hofman's Buildings. The headquarters moved to Electricity House in 1924. | PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTOGRAPH TO VIEW ENLARGED VERSION Electricity House |
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Matters demanding the early attention of the Commission:
The erection of Witbank was achieved by an agreement between Escom and the VFP. Escom was to finance and own the power station that the VFP was to design, build and operate. The VFP agreed to transmit all surplus electricity capacity to the Witwatersrand. |
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| In 1925, the Commission obtained four power supply licences and the Cape Town, Witbank, Sabie and Central Natal undertakings were established. A year later, two coal-fired power stations, Colenso and Witbank, were commissioned. Two years after that, Congella and Salt River coal-fired power stations were commissioned. | PLEASE CLICK ON PHOTOGRAPH TO VIEW ENLARGED VERSION |
| The erection of Malieveldspruit hydro station was a temporary measure undertaken by Escom to ease the electrical power demands of the gold mines in the Eastern Transvaal (Mpumalanga today). This station was replaced by a hydro station in the Sabie River which came into commercial operation in mid-1927. The Sabie River Gorge hydro station was the first station designed by Escom engineers. The year 1929 closed with Escom enjoying power sales of approximately 800 million units. | |
| This webpage was last updated on the 29 April, 2004 |
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