Problems with plant maintenance caused great
concern. Machinery in use since Escom was established had to endure years of excessive
use. Escom staff displayed ingenuity in expanding the electricity distribution system.
During World War II, the Director-General of War Supplies ordered Escom to undertake the
manufacture of instrumentation and parts for sophisticated weapons at its
Rosherville workshop.
A steel shortage caused Escom to build reinforced concrete pylons to support overhead
high-voltage lines. These uncommon pylons were erected in Orange Free State (now
known simply as Free
State), Natal (now known as KwaZulu-Natal)
and Eastern Transvaal (now known as Mpumalanga). In this period,
power sales declined until the war turned in favour of the Allied Forces. In 1946, Escom
had increased its annual sales to 5 000 million units. Despite the long-awaited peace
conditions, Escom was greatly handicapped by the shortage of generation and distribution
equipment. This delayed the erection of new power stations and taxed the capability of
existing installations to respond to the high demand for electrical power. Demand from new
gold fields in the Orange Free State, and applications from towns, mines and
industries for electrical power supply, led to the expansion of Escom’s licenced area
by 41 000 square kilometres.
Escom acquired the Port Shepstone power station in 1944. In 1947, Escom took over the running of West Bank power station at the request of the East London municipality. At an Escom meeting in
1947, it was decided to take over the central power station of De Beers mines in Kimberley.
Escom purchased the Alice and King
William’s Town municipal undertakings in 1948. All this resulted in
the establishment of the Border and Northern Cape undertakings.
In accordance with conditions first stipulated in the Power Act of 1910 and included in
the Electricity Act of 1922, all assets of the VFP were expropriated and taken over
by Escom in 1948. Escom inherited a well-planned and properly established VFP power
system. A new Rand undertaking was formed. Extensions to existing power stations at Colenso, Congella,
Rosherville, Vaal, Witbank, West
Bank and Kimberley Central were
undertaken.
Escom’s founding Chairman, Dr H J van der Bijl, died in December 1948. Mr A M Jacobs, previously Escom’s Chief
Engineer and Technical Officer, succeeded Dr Van der Bijl as Chairman of Escom.
