South Africa’s electricity cuts jolting to country’s economy
JOHANNESBURG — South Africans are struggling in the dark to cope with increased power cuts that have hit households and businesses across the country.
The rolling power cuts have been experienced for years but the country’s state-owned power utility Eskom has extended them so that some residents and businesses have gone without power for more than 9 hours a day.
A strike by Eskom workers added to the utility’s woes, which include breakdowns of its aging power plants, insufficient generation capacity and corruption, according to experts.
Small and large businesses have had to close down for prolonged periods or spend large amounts for diesel fuel to operate generators. Anger and frustration is widespread among business owners and customers over the power cuts, which Eskom calls load shedding.
The blackouts are here to stay, say experts who warn it will take years to substantially increase South Africa’s capacity to generate power. South Africa mines coal and relies heavily on coal-fired plants, which cause noticeable air pollution. The country is looking to increase power production from solar and other renewable sources.
“Eskom told us at the end of last year that there was a chronic power shortage,” said energy expert Hilton Trollip. “What that means is that until we have a substantial amount of extra generation on the grid, we will continue to be at the risk of load shedding at any stage. The question then is how bad will the load shedding be?”
The cuts are costing the South African economy well over $40 million per day and deterring investment, economists say. South Africa’s economy, the most developed on the continent, is in recession and has a 35% unemployment rate.
Small businesses in the country’s townships, suburbs and rural areas are among the hardest hit by the effects of the rolling blackouts, Trollip said.
Buhle Ndlovu, a teacher at a nursery school in
Soweto, Johannesburg’s largest township, said the power cuts increased her costs to run the school.
“We cater to about 40 children here. We need to feed healthy meals to them daily,” said Ndlovu. “At the rate we charge we can’t afford to take on additional costs to buy gas in order for us to cook. Load shedding has really made it difficult for us.”
She said it is a challenge to take care of children by candlelight until parents come to pick up their kids well after dark.
Some shops, however, are getting new business from the power cuts, such as Uri’s Power Center, which is seeing brisk sales of power generators, batteries and other backup systems.
“I think people should definitely look to become less reliant on Eskom. I don’t believe that the power situation is going to resolve itself any time soon,” said owner Adam Zimmerman at his shop in the Randburg area of Johannesburg. “We’re all aware of Eskom problems and people have various options whether to invest in a generator to run their business or home.”