As a result of the current energy crisis in the nation, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not be attending the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, according to a statement released by a spokeswoman for the president on Sunday. Since Tuesday, when ailing state utility Eskom, which generates more than 90 percent of the country’s power, stated it will execute its worst-ever outages until further notice, there has been a significant increase in the frequency and severity of power outages.
Over the course of the past decade, the power outages have developed into a major cause of popular anger with the African National Congress (ANC), which is currently in power, and they have acted as a brake on economic progress in the most industrialized nation in Africa. “At this time, the President is in the process of calling a meeting with leaders of political parties that are currently represented in parliament, NECCOM [National Energy Crisis Committee], and the Eskom board,” said Vincent Magwenya, a spokesperson for the presidency. He also mentioned that more briefings with important stakeholders are scheduled to take place the following week. The struggling utility company is responsible for providing the vast majority of South Africa’s electrical needs. It does so mostly by utilizing an ageing fleet of coal-fired power facilities, which are prone to breakdowns and are not dependable.
In addition to this, Eskom’s staff has gone on strike on many occasions, the most recent of which occurred in June. This occurred after discussions with trade unions, notably the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa, were unsuccessful. The power company, which is operating at a loss and has a massive debt load that is getting close to 400 billion rand ($25 billion), is attempting to keep expenses under control as part of the turnaround efforts being headed by Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter.
