South Africa plans to expand use of renewable power as the coal-dependent nation expects traditional, centralised generation plants to “disappear”, energy minister Jeff Radebe said.
Browsing: Eskom
South Africa plans to cut the state wage bill over the next three years to keep spending under control as the economy flags and it bails out the struggling state power utility.
The sorry state of South Africa’s state power utility starkly illustrates just how far the country slipped during former President Jacob Zuma’s scandal-marred rule and the enormity of the task of rebuilding the nation’s stricken finances.
The R100-billion debt support Eskom has requested from government is not nearly enough to return the struggling utility to sustainability, says Business Unity South Africa.
Finance minister Tito Mboweni is looking for a way to keep the country’s main power producer from sucking the life out of the economy.
South Africa will deploy police and intelligence officers at Eskom power stations to prevent sabotage as the government implements a plan to end outages and help the utility recover.
While most South Africans spent the past week griping about rolling power cuts, the outages proved a blessing for cable thieves, who are able to work during the blackouts without fear of electrocution.
A lobby group representing South African banks has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to prioritise the country’s wider interests rather than securing votes for the ANC.
Eskom said it will likely end rolling blackouts on Friday after it repaired some power plants and replenished diesel and water supplies at others.
President Cyril Ramaphosa reached out to labour unions that oppose his plans to break up the state power utility on Thursday, reassuring them that the move is not aimed at privatisation.