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South African cities scramble to keep the lights on

South African cities scramble to keep the lights on

REELING from South Africa's worst-ever electricity crisis, local authorities across the country are turning to private suppliers to help businesses and households keep the lights on. President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a state of disaster over the energy crunch, which is seen wiping as much as 2 percentage points off economic growth this year. With South Africans spending up to 10 hours a day without electricity due to rolling blackouts by struggling state utility Eskom, the tourist city of Cape Town aims to halve power cuts for its residents by 2026, its executive director for energy Kadri Nassiep said. Officials plan to procure up…
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Same old funding model can’t keep South African cities going or serve residents

Same old funding model can’t keep South African cities going or serve residents

LOCAL government, neglected under apartheid in South Africa, was elevated in the 1996 constitution so as to strengthen democracy and help redress past inequities. The idea was that by making services (water, electricity, and refuse) accessible and affordable, national government would be legitimised. THEO COVARY, Energy policy expert/researcher, University of Cape Town But in 2021, South Africa’s municipalities are in dire straits. They are mired by service delivery failures, poor management, financial mismanagement, billing crises and power outages. The electricity cuts are due to ageing and failing infrastructure, compounded by electricity supply cuts by Eskom. The Auditor-General has said that…
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