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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, has cut short foreign visits as the country’s electricity crisis worsened. He warned that the situation would continue as there was no prospect for improvement in the immediate future, given the uncertain performance of the state utility Eskom
South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa, has cut short foreign visits as the country’s electricity crisis worsened. He warned that the situation would continue as there was no prospect for improvement in the immediate future, given the uncertain performance of the state utility Eskom.
Power cuts are a perennial problem in South Africa, the continent’s leading industrial power. The challenge of further power cuts looms large as the national grid is unable to generate enough power after years of mismanagement and corruption, leading to several hours of power cuts every day. Load shedding has been continuing for nearly 15 years, crippling both industry and civic life.
Mr. Ramaphosa, who was on a trip to the United States and London, announced an early return in response to the crisis. Load shedding for the last two weeks was severe and has been extremely frustrating and difficult, he said. He vowed to reduce the frequency and severity of load shedding in the immediate future by addressing the failures at the power stations. During the springtime, the aging power plants develop faults mainly due to poor maintenance in the past.
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South Africa is also facing coal shortage problems. The country gets 80% of its electricity from coal. This leads to severe pollution and environmental degradation. The country is embarking on measures to create new production capacity. The sector would be opened up to the private sector soon as stated by Ramaphosa in July. South Africa obtained €7.7 billion for its energy transition at COP26. It signed the first agreements for wind energy production last week.
