Johannesburg - South Africans are now experiencing up to 10 hours of rolling blackouts a day, and with the news of a whopping 32% power hike this week, experts are asking why President Cyril Ramaphosa has not addressed the nation yet.
The electricity pricing regulator Nersa approved Eskom price hikes with the first increase of 18.65% for standard tariff customers comes into effect in April, while the second of 12.74% will bite in April next year.
As South Africans face stage-6 blackouts “for the foreseeable future”, the country’s leadership remains silent on any plan to solve a national disaster that threatens the very stability of the nation.
And precisely at this time, when South Africans are wanting to know just what the government is doing to deal with load shedding, there is silence. There has been no clear message from the President on how it is going to be solved.
Instead, Ramaphosa will be joining the WEF Annual Meeting in Switzerland, scheduled to take place in Davos next week.
“It is a rudderless government that can’t provide the necessary plans or encouragement,” said political economy analyst Daniel Silke, who stressed that South Africa was in a dangerous situation because of rolling blackouts that affected not only the economy, but also social and political stability and security.
“It is very surprising to me that we have had this silence from the president on the matter,” Silke added. “The longer the crisis goes on, the more the president’s credibility is going to suffer, and this should encourage him to take a stronger leadership role on this.”
The president’s spokesman, Vincent Magwenya, told journalists at a media briefing on Thursday that the president deeply regretted the energy crisis and called for solutions to be found urgently.
“What they are doing is not working,” said energy expert Chris Yelland. “We know that the national energy crisis committee was announced in July and a number of work streams were established, but there has been no sign of concrete action.”
“We are not expecting sudden changes overnight, but if you have a plan, then tell us what it is.”
Recently the utility said it would take between six to 12 months to resolve the blackouts.
Eskom group chief operating officer Jan Oberholzer warned of the possibility of unplanned outages adding to the burden. The country had lost 155 days of power since last January and burned millions of litres of diesel on open-cycle gas turbines.
“Due to the vulnerability and unpredictability of the power system, coupled with the major capital projects, maintenance and major repairs to be executed starting during the next few months, the risk of continued load shedding remains quite high,” Oberholzer said.
Energy economist Ted Blom said that, with the correct team in place and no political interference, it could take three to six months to turn Eskom around.
However, speaking to Independent Media yesterday, Blom offered no hope.
“Under current conditions and politics, there is zero solution,” he said.
Anger over longer hours without electricity, no respite from the heat of summer, and financial hardship contributed to chronic stress and anxiety.
Dr Garret Barnwell, a clinical psychologist and expert on climate change and mental health, warned of an increase in conflict, violence and mental health crises.
Already this week there was violence on the N4 highway in Emalahleni, in Mpumalanga, when angry residents torched several trucks and cars while protesting that they hadn’t had electricity for a week.
Free Market Foundation chief executive officer David Ansara stressed the urgency of stepping away from the utility’s state-centric model.
“There is no need for a single entity to be responsible for generation and transmission of power. Generation, particularly, needs to seek private involvement.”
However, he was sceptical that those in power, given their ideological leanings and commitments, would relinquish state control.
Ansara said Standard Bank CEO Sim Tshabalala’s recent suggestion that Eskom should consider an international candidate to succeed André de Ruyter would not change the way Eskom was structured.
“The problem is the whole structure around Eskom. You can have the best CEO in the world, but if the current way in which the utility is regulated remains in place, then you are not going to solve the fundamental problem. I think the crisis really is at an advanced stage.”
He called for Nersa’s processes to become less bureaucratic, to enable independent power producers to get on to the grid, and encouraged private investment.
Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy Gwede Mantashe yesterday said that the energy crisis could be resolved in six to 12 months.
However Yelland said: “You have 90 generators that you cannot fix all at once, so you have to do it step by step over a long time. You have to have the spares, the money, plan it, and have the right people. In reality, this is not happening.
“But, oh well, talk is good now – let’s see the action.”