South Africa’s troubled power utility company, Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, says no short-term fix for blackouts and power cuts won’t be resolved in 5 years’ time as sabotage, and corruption in the already debt-ridden company are hampering maintenance and additional electricity generation. Last week, Eskom announced the move from stage 6 to stage 8 load-shedding where users will have between 8 to 10 hours without power, in addition to an 18,65% tariff increase.
“The ANC calls for Eskom and the government to immediately focus on restoring additional units to operation as quickly as possible and arresting further decline by undertaking critical maintenance; ensuring power stations have skilled and experienced personnel; tackling sabotage, theft and corruption at power stations; and streamlining procurement processes,” said President Cyril Ramaphosa in a statemement made on January 8 .
This is in spite of the company having announced its plans to launch a power purchase program to bolster its power generation capacity and relieve the problem. Three southern African countries namely South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Zambia are in dire energy shortage as the neighbors are interdependent on the power grid. With low water levels at Kariba Dam supplying Zimbabwe and Zambia, and South Africa’s inability to produce enough electricity, the region sees no immediate relief on the horizon.
South Africans from all walks of life have taken to various social media outlets to express their dismay at the worsening electricity supply shortage in the country. Some have pointed out to the lack of political will to solve problems at Eskom calling for more government intervention.
The load-shedding crisis has affected households and businesses, with disastrous implications for Africa’s second-largest economy. The Black Business Council (BBC) has warned that electricity blackouts and the 18,65% tariff increase would lead to more jobs being lost as small businesses buckled under the weight of Eskom’s stage 6 load-shedding.
