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South Africa’s power outages could reach critical levels this winter – likely scenarios

South Africa’s power outages could reach critical levels this winter – likely scenarios

OVER the past 15 years South Africa has been experiencing a gradually worsening number of electricity cuts. This state of affairs has prompted frustration among citizens, negative international economic sentiment and financial hardship for many businesses. Public pressure has grown more intense, leading to the extraordinary presidential decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to proclaim a state of disaster as well as to appoint a Minister of Electricity. Author HARTMUT WINKLER, Professor of Physics, University of Johannesburg The year 2022 was marked by the worst power outages in the country’s history. Electricity generation deficits reached up to 6 GW on occasion,…
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South Africa’s Ramaphosa defends electricity minister appointment

South Africa’s Ramaphosa defends electricity minister appointment

SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa defended his decision to appoint a minister to try to end crippling power cuts, rejecting criticism the role would cause confusion in government. State utility Eskom is implementing the worst power outages on record, constraining the country's economic growth prospects. That prompted Ramaphosa to declare a "state of disaster" and said he would appoint a new Minister of Electricity last week. Some lawmakers said the appointment would add a layer of bureaucracy as Eskom is overseen by the public enterprises minister while the energy minister is responsible for procuring additional power generation capacity. Ramaphosa told parliament some…
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