State of disaster Eskom

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday declared a national "state of disaster" over his country's crippling power shortages, saying they posed ...

"The state of disaster is a good thing but we don't want to see them (politicians) put the money in their pockets." "The crisis has progressively evolved to affect every part of society. Register for free to Reuters and know the full story

Speaking during his State of the Nation Address (SONA), the president said that the energy crisis in the country has done untold damage to the country and is an ...

The minister of Public Enterprises will remain in charge of Eskom, Ramaphosa said, and will continue to oversee its operations. “We are focused on those actions that will make a meaningful difference now and enable real progress in the next year. Plans for a national state of disaster have been criticised over the past week since Ramaphosa first expressed the governing ANC’s intent to declare one.

Solidarity warned President Cyril Ramaphosa against instituting a state of disaster over the energy crisis, ahead of his State of the Nation address (Sona) ...

The budget for Sona 2020 was estimated at R2.1 million. Holding a virtual Sona in 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic cost the country just R208 000. Some traditions were foregone last year because of the fire.

Ten months after the national state of disaster for Covid-19 was lifted, South Africa just entered a new one, this time for load shedding.

The national state of disaster allows government to make regulations and issue directions, bypassing some legislative steps. It may also shorten Nersa's approval times. "Where technically possible, it will enable us to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load shedding.

'Extraordinary circumstances call for extraordinary measures', Ramaphosa said as he declared the state of disaster. President Cyril Ramaphosa delivering the ...

“The energy crisis is an existential threat to our economy and social fabric. “The crisis has evolved to affect every part of our society. It would allow to exempt critical infrastructure such as hospitals and water treatment plants from load shedding.

With the country's economy on the brink, the president assured the nation that ending load-shedding is his government's top priority.

Without a reliable supply of electricity, our efforts to grow an inclusive economy that creates jobs and reduces poverty will not succeed,” he said. At that rate, the country’s unemployment will remain stubbornly high, as the country risks a repeat of July 2021. “We are in the grip of a profound energy crisis, the seeds of which were planted many years ago. “The energy crisis is an existential threat to our economy and social fabric. The auditor general will be brought in to ensure continuous monitoring of expenditure. The minister, the president said, will work “day and night” to arrest the crisis.

President says rolling power cuts 'an existential threat to our economy and our social fabric'

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However, the power shortage has escalated in recent months, with South Africans facing electricity cuts for 288 days last year, while this year there have been ...

The government reacted by telling those accused of corruption to resign and cooperate with law enforcement. The country's state-owned power company, Eskom, has $26bn (£21bn) of debt, old infrastructure, power stations that do not work properly, not to mention a recent strike which crippled the company. "When load-shedding is really, really bad, we find ourselves using our profit to run," Mr Makhubu said. South Africans have been facing blackouts every day, which have badly affected homes and businesses, but what difference will this emergency measure make, if any? Before a clapping crowd, he announced: "We are therefore declaring a national state of disaster to respond to the electricity crisis and its effect." So the pressure has been mounting on President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the issue, which he said he would confront head-on: "We must act to lessen the impact of the crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water infrastructure, on our transport network and a number of other areas and facilities that support our people's lives," he said in his state of the nation address on Thursday.

The president said he will provide clarity on Eskom's state of disaster when he appears before Parliament to answer questions.

There’s not going to be looting. There’s just going to be a process to ensure that we deal with the crisis," said the president. "And it’s quite interesting that they called for a state of disaster and now that we’ve declared it they are opposed to it.