Power to the people

Because I have class tonight and will be handing in my final research paper, I decided to read it over one last time just to make sure I am still happy with it. (Yes, I'm at work, and should be doing actual work, but whatever) And, I'm so taken with this company that I wrote my paper on that I just had to share.
See, I found this story about a company, Eskom, in South Africa that supplies most of the power for the whole country. And I'm pretty fascinated by them for two reasons. One, working in a power plant and seeing how things work for a company on the other side of the world is pretty neat. And for two, this is a company that pretty much set the standard for how companies in South Africa should be managed post-apartheid. I mean, this is a government owned power company, operating in a country where it was illegal to hire nonwhites for most jobs and illegal to supply nonwhites with any sort of means to support themselves - like electricity (the thinking being - if you're too young to remember apartheid - was that if they just left them to their own devices, they'd all move back to their "homelands" and leave the fat cat whites in peace). But as far back as the 60's, Eskom basically gave a big ol' finger to the government and started hiring blacks for whites only jobs. A power company. A government owned power company. That's crazy talk. They weren't some little forward thinking left-wing operated software company or anything. No, they were the kind of company that for all intents and purposes should have been banging the drum for following apartheid rule. But, someone got it into their head that they shouldn't and just ran with the idea. Now the Chairman of the Board is a guy who didn't used to even be allowed to use the toilets there because he's black. Now they have the only female station manager in the entire world. Now hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of blacks (who make up 79% of the population) finally have electricity instead of candles and kerosene. I find them amazing. Way to hope and pray that change will come and be a part of making it happen. Good on them.
I just had to share that. =)