Former CEO of South Africa's power utility, Eskom, Andre de Ruyter, has written a critical book titled "Truth to Power," exposing the ruling party's practices that have severely damaged the country's economy. De Ruyter's book highlights Eskom's corruption and inefficiency and discusses the impact of recurring power cuts on the economy and daily life, a crisis he was hired to address.

However, beyond revealing Eskom's issues, De Ruyter advocates for ending the state's involvement in the economy, promoting a socially unhinged liberalization in which the market operates without state intervention. He believes that government allocation of resources has been a failure. While De Ruyter's perspective aligns with some of the African National Congress' (ANC) long-standing policies, the author of the rewrite disagrees.

The opposing view argues that De Ruyter's prescription for unfettered market ideology would worsen living conditions and roll back the progress made in addressing the economic disparities from colonial and apartheid eras. Instead, the writer suggests a new social contract between government, labor, and business to create productive jobs and address social injustices, emphasizing the importance of a responsible and active state in governing the market.

De Ruyter points out four major causes of South Africa's energy crisis, including the deployment of ANC party activists in state-owned enterprises, the influence of the "coal mafia" controlling coal supply to Eskom, the blocking of the transition to green energy by the Minister of Minerals and Energy, and the loss of experienced white engineers at Eskom.

The author acknowledges the ANC's failure to maintain the trust of the majority of citizens and points out the need for a productive state involvement in the economy, efforts to eliminate corruption, and a focus on revitalizing the economy while protecting and reforming old productive industries and investing in new enterprises. They believe that South Africa needs a new social pact to achieve transformative social justice and an African renaissance, rather than an extreme version of neo-liberalism.