South Africa’s power crisis

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: It’s Thursday the 23rd of February, 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Paul Butler.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown. First up on The World and Everything in It: Power cuts.

South Africa is in the middle of a crippling power crisis that has left millions of people in the dark. On Sunday, the country’s power company increased power outages to up to 10 hours a day.

BUTLER: WORLD’s Africa reporter Onize Ohikere shares how some businesses and aid groups are adapting.

ONIZE OHIKERE, REPORTER: Each morning, Namritha Sivsanker’s team from the Hope South Africa Foundation prepares hundreds of hot meals in a restaurant kitchen in Johannesburg.

Hours before the restaurant opens at 10 a.m., they fire up pots and blend tomatoes to finish up the meals, then clear out the kitchen.

But worsening power cuts have altered their processes. Sivsanker says they now have to start food prepping a day earlier to meet their limited time slot.

SIVSANKER: We cook on gas, but we use equipment for preparation and we’re obviously using the restaurant facilities. So you need lighting as well. So you've got to then get in your portable lights and solar powered lighting systems.

Sivsanker describes it as a knock-and-drop effect that has also left many other businesses and homes in a bind. Residents say the outages have affected everything from business hours to traffic lights and water access.

South Africa’s power utility known as Eskom began employing power cuts—also called load shedding—as far back as 2007. Back then, it only lasted a few hours. But last year, South Africa hit a new record of more than 200 days without electricity.

It has worsened this year, igniting protests.

AUDIO: [Protesters yelling]

Eskom relies heavily on its aging coal-fired power stations, which face frequent breakdowns after years of overuse and poor maintenance.

During a state-of-the-nation address two weeks ago, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a state of emergency. He said the move will help authorities keep power on more often for essential service providers.

RAMAPHOSA: We know that without a reliable supply of electricity, businesses cannot grow, assembly lines cannot run, crops cannot be irrigated and basic services are interrupted.

Ramaphosa also said he plans to appoint an electricity minister tasked with responding to the crisis. But opposition lawmakers have argued it just adds on another layer of bureaucracy.

AUDIO: [Protesters singing]

Protesters marching in Johannesburg and elsewhere are calling for an end to the power cuts.

Sivsanker says the outages cause ripple effects to all aspects of daily life.

SIVSANKER: Your gates are not working and your security cameras are not working. So burglaries are increased, there's no backup power sources.

Prices for alternative energy sources have also surged.

SIVSANKER: I paid, at the beginning of last year, I bought a single battery inverter for about 5000 rand. That very same inverter now is 8000 for a single battery inverter. Now, the common man on the street cannot afford that.

Harm Engelbrecht heads the South Africa chapter of the Christian Business Men’s Connection.

The group includes about 600 businessmen across South Africa. They all belong to small groups that meet weekly to grow their faith and business practices.

ENGELBRECHT: And obviously, the main thing that, that this also teaches the guys, also the same with, with the COVID pandemic, is to trust on the Lord for, for everything.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Onize Ohikere.

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