Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      Public money, private plans: MPs demand Post Office transparency

      13 June 2025

      Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

      13 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      10 red flags for Apple investors

      13 June 2025
    • World

      Yahoo tries to make its mail service relevant again

      13 June 2025

      Qualcomm shows off new chip for AI smart glasses

      11 June 2025

      Trump tariffs to dim 2025 smartphone shipments

      4 June 2025

      Shrimp Jesus and the AI ad invasion

      4 June 2025

      Apple slams EU rules as ‘flawed and costly’ in major legal pushback

      2 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025

      South Africa unveils big state digital reform programme

      12 May 2025

      Is this the end of Google Search as we know it?

      12 May 2025
    • TCS

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025

      TCS | Sentiv, and the story behind the buyout of Altron Nexus

      3 June 2025

      TCS | Signal restored: Unpacking the Blue Label and Cell C turnaround

      28 May 2025
    • Opinion

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025

      Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

      29 May 2025

      Solar panic? The truth about SSEG, fines and municipal rules

      14 April 2025

      Data protection must be crypto industry’s top priority

      9 April 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Energy and sustainability » Load shedding is now threatening South Africa’s food supply

    Load shedding is now threatening South Africa’s food supply

    The most severe power cuts ever experienced in South Africa are threatening food and water supplies and disrupting the lives of millions of people.
    By Agency Staff18 January 2023
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    The most severe power cuts ever experienced in South Africa are threatening food and water supplies and disrupting the lives of millions of people, including chicken farmers.

    In the poultry industry, electricity outages have forced factories to pause round-the-clock operations for as long as half a day at a time. As a result, over 10 million birds designated for slaughter are still alive and consuming feed, creating a backlog that companies fear they won’t be able to fix.

    “We actually have enough chickens on farms around the country, but we can’t supply the market because we can’t slaughter the chickens,” Izaak Breitenbach, CEO of the South African Poultry Association, said in an interview. As a stopgap measure, producers have begun using generators, which cost the industry about 75c above the normal price of production per kilogram of chicken.

    If outages continue at those levels, South Africa’s GDP growth this year will likely be capped at 1.5%

    In response to these pressures, KFC temporarily shut some of the 750 fried chicken restaurants it operates in the country at the end of last year.

    Chicken is one of the most affordable sources of animal protein in South Africa, and as the country battles a cost-of-living crisis — the central bank’s 2023 forecast for food price inflation was recently raised to 6.2% — a sharp price increase could render it beyond many people’s means. Last year, producers raised poultry prices 17%.

    This is just one example of how the energy crisis is roiling the economy.

    Over the last 15 years, Eskom, which provides 90% of all of South Africa’s electricity, has kept its grid from collapse by cutting power when it has been unable to meet demand. These planned blackouts mainly affected mining operations and heavy industry until last year, when they became much more widespread. As the utility has struggled under a leadership crisis, its assets have deteriorated from age, lack of maintenance and even vandalism, all of which pushed outages to record levels in 2022.

    Problems everywhere

    If outages continue at those levels, said Chris Hattingh, head of policy analysis at the Centre for Risk Analysis, South Africa’s GDP growth this year will likely be capped at 1.5%.

    The blackouts have created problems at every step of the agricultural production chain, affecting crop irrigation, processing and storage. Stores have also taken costly measures to keep produce from spoiling on shelves.

    Some of the country’s biggest food retailers, Shoprite and Woolworths, have increased investment in standby generators, rooftop solar panels and refrigerated trailer trucks. But smaller businesses haven’t had opportunities to adapt. The Sowetan earlier this week addressed a cover story to President Cyril Ramaphosa that listed dozens of small companies “crippled by every failed promise to fix Eskom”.

    Among those affected are farmers in the Northern Cape, who are already suffering under heatwaves that have seen temperatures in some areas edge towards 47 degrees. Without energy, they can’t irrigate their crops, which include thirsty citrus trees.

    “If you don’t have enough electricity, you don’t have enough water,” said Nicol Jansen, president of Agri Northern Cape, adding that cash crops such as soybeans are also vulnerable. “We urgently need more electricity in the irrigation areas.”

    Other sectors have also been affected. For months, municipal and provincial authorities and utilities have urged consumers to cut back on water usage, as a lack of electricity can prevent stations that pump water through pipes from operating at full capacity.

    In Cape Town, at the height of holiday tourism season, public warnings were issued to avoid sections of beach that had been closed due to sewage spills after wastewater pumps broke down. To avoid these kinds of situations, the city initiated plans last year to procure renewable energy from independent producers.

    “The most profound effect is major stress on all of our infrastructure,” Geordin Hill-Lewis, Cape Town’s mayor and a member of the opposition Democratic Alliance, said of the outages.

    As government has been delayed in its efforts to increase the amount of electricity it buys from private suppliers, diesel-powered generators remain the last line of defence against electricity shortages. Yet Eskom has repeatedly run down diesel supplies and exhausted its budget to buy more.

    Read: Eskom says minimising load shedding is its ‘highest priority’

    The cost has been significant. Shoprite, for example, is currently spending an extra R100-million/month on diesel to keep the lights on in its stores.

    Hattingh, the risk analyst, is worried that the current situation is not sustainable. With the vast majority of South Africans struggling with higher costs, the “average feeling is things are teetering on the precipice”.  — Paul Burkhardt, Felix Njini and Janice Kew, with Prinesha Naidoo, (c) 2023 Bloomberg LP

    Get TechCentral’s daily newsletter



    Centre for Risk Analysis Chris Hattingh Cyril Ramaphosa Eskom Izaak Breitenbach Nicol Jansen
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleTelkom expects first MVNO on its network this year
    Next Article Microsoft to retrench 10 000 employees

    Related Posts

    Coal to cash: South Africa gets major boost for energy shift

    13 June 2025

    Why AI could soon be managing your home solar system

    9 June 2025

    Telecoms operators back BEE reforms – but warn against favouritism

    5 June 2025
    Company News

    Huawei Watch Fit 4 Series: smarter sensors, sharper design, stronger performance

    13 June 2025

    Change Logic and BankservAfrica set new benchmark with PayShap roll-out

    13 June 2025

    SAPHILA 2025 – transcending with purpose, connection and AI-powered vision

    13 June 2025
    Opinion

    Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

    2 June 2025

    South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

    2 June 2025

    Digital giants boost South African news media – and get blamed for it

    29 May 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.