South Africa's energy crisis has been ongoing since 2007, with the country experiencing widespread national blackouts of electricity supply, known as load shedding[4]. In February 2023, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national "state of disaster" over the electricity crisis, which was revoked in April 2023[2][5][6][7]. Despite the revocation, the country is still grappling with nationwide rolling blackouts, currently for six hours a day, due to failures at the state-run power company, Eskom[7].
As part of the government's plan to mitigate the country's power crisis, the National Treasury has urged SMEs and households to apply for a solar power loan scheme. The loan covers solar rooftops, batteries, inverters, and other installation costs[1]. Reforms are urgently needed to resolve the energy crisis and tackle structural unemployment[3].
The energy crisis has had a number of negative impacts on South Africa, including reducing economic growth, making it more difficult to do business in the country, increasing crime rates, and shaping South African politics[4]. The shift to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power has been slow, but progress has been made in recent years, with the government's commitment to procuring renewable energy and reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions[4].
Do you think this a step in the right direction for South Africans? Let us know in the comments!
Citations:
[1] https://ewn.co.za/topic/energy-emergency
[2] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/4/5/south-africa-revokes-state-of-disaster-over-power-crisis
[3] https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2023/06/15/cf-south-africas-economy-loses-momentum-amid-record-power-cuts
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_energy_crisis
[5] https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/south-africa-revokes-state-disaster-declared-over-power-crisis-2023-04-05/
[6] https://www.voanews.com/a/south-africa-declares-state-of-disaster-over-energy-crisis-/6956810.html
[7] https://apnews.com/article/south-africa-electricity-crisis-16e5b4d50978e364766f90da9aa47529
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