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Mar
12
2023
By The African Mirror
SA power cuts hurts SMME industry

SA power cuts hurts SMME industry

NEWS
THREE of South Africa's top four lenders have warned that hours of daily power cuts could hurt small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are considered the backbone of the nation's economy. SMEs in Africa's most industrialised nation represent more than 98% of its businesses and employ more than half of its workforce, according to a McKinsey study. Issues affecting this sector could in turn further hurt the gross domestic product, which shrank a greater-than-expected 1.3% in the final three months of last year. State-utility Eskom implements daily power cuts, called load-shedding, in stages with Stage 1 being the lowest. At…
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Mar
12
2023
By The African Mirror
<strong>South Africa’s power crisis: going off the grid works for the wealthy – but could deepen injustice for the poor</strong>

South Africa’s power crisis: going off the grid works for the wealthy – but could deepen injustice for the poor

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS
SOUTH Africa’s current electricity crisis has been described as “a perfect storm”. A number of factors have converged to reach this point: an ageing and inadequately maintained fleet of coal power stations, delays in upgrading the Koeberg nuclear power station and significant failures at the recently built Medupi and Kusile coal power stations. Authors CHRISTINA CULWICK FATTI, Senior researcher, urban sustainability transitions, environmental governance and resilience, Gauteng City-Region Observatory SAMKELISIWE KHANYILE, Researcher, Gauteng City-Region Observatory Since the beginning of 2022, power utility Eskom’s inability to meet the country’s electricity demand has resulted in unprecedented load-shedding (scheduled power cuts). In 2022,…
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Feb
06
2023
By The African Mirror
SA POWER OUTAGES: Robberies surge as criminals take advantage

SA POWER OUTAGES: Robberies surge as criminals take advantage

NEWS
THE acute energy crisis in South Africa has adversely affected all aspects of society. Regular and lengthy power outages – which started in 2007 are also contributing to an escalation in the levels of criminal activity, especially street crime. The most recent quarterly crime statistics – have undermined an ailing economy and food security, as well as health and educational outcomes. Author GUY LAMB, Criminologist / Lecturer, Stellenbosch University It has become evident that power cuts added to a significant increase in all robbery categories – for July to September 2022 – compared to the same period in 2021. This…
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Feb
01
2023
By The African Mirror
South Africa’s ANC wants to use disaster rules to ease power crisis

South Africa’s ANC wants to use disaster rules to ease power crisis

NEWS
CARIEN DUPLESSIS SOUTH Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) wants to employ disaster management legislation that was used to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to help end crippling power cuts, a top party official said. Struggling state utility Eskom has implemented power cuts every day this year, after a record number of days with outages last year. On Tuesday, it will ramp up power cuts to the highest level on record. "Our response to COVID was scientifically driven. Our response to dealing with load-shedding must be scientifically driven," ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula told reporters, using a term for power cuts. "The…
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Jan
19
2023
By The African Mirror
Davos 2023: South Africa plans to end load-shedding in 12-18 months

Davos 2023: South Africa plans to end load-shedding in 12-18 months

NEWS
SOUTH Africa has a plan to improve energy provision that will end the need for any power cuts within the next 12-18 months, ITS Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said. "Eventually in the next 12-18 months, we will be able to say load-shedding is a thing of the past. That is the target," Godongwana, told Reuters on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss resort of Davos. Godongwana said so-called "stage 6" power cuts - which mean at least six hours a day without power for most South Africans - would no longer be needed within about…
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Apr
19
2022
By The African Mirror
South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts to replenish emergency reserves

South Africa’s Eskom to implement power cuts to replenish emergency reserves

NEWS
SOUTH AFRICAN state power utility Eskom said that it would implement "Stage 2" scheduled power cuts from 16:00 local time (1400 GMT) until 0300 GMT on Wednesday to replenish its emergency generation reserves. Eskom added in a statement that the power system remained unpredictable and that any further deterioration in generation capacity may require higher stages of load-shedding, a term for power outages.
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Nov
03
2020
By The African Mirror
South Africa’s waning economic fortunes demand harsh policy adjustments: who will bear the brunt?

South Africa’s waning economic fortunes demand harsh policy adjustments: who will bear the brunt?

BUSINESS
MICHAEL SACHS, Adjunct Professor, University of the Witwatersrand THE social and economic crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated South Africa’s fiscal crisis. But the origins of the fiscal crisis are deeper. It is a structural crisis that will define public policy over the years ahead. Two decades ago, South Africa was confident about its economic future. Public expenditure was expanded to deliver on social objectives that had been deferred at the outset of the democratic transition in 1994. The expansion of public sector commitments was deliberate, warranted and well-targeted. It included a permanent expansion of core public services…
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