Power crisis in South Africa has become acute. This has a negative impact on the country’s trade and commerce. Citizens are suffering. It is alleged that such a situation has arisen due to corruption and mismanagement of the country’s state-owned power generation and supply company ‘ISCOM’. Authorities are emphasizing on solar power generation to solve the crisis.
Residents of Cape Town, the capital of South Africa, have to be without electricity for about 10 hours every day. Most of the time has to be spent with candles or in the dark. The level of suffering has reached an unbearable level. The situation is similar in other cities of the country.
Due to the lack of electricity, the production of business establishments has decreased. Small and medium entrepreneurs are the most affected. Meanwhile, the country’s government has said that economic growth will decrease by 2 percent this year due to electricity shortage.
Cape Town city authorities have announced new projects to reduce reliance on government agencies to overcome power shortages. Solar power generation has been suggested for commercial establishments and residential buildings in the city. They will buy the extra electricity produced. However, since the cost of installing these solar panels is very high, it is not possible for many people to afford it.
City of Cape Town Electricity Executive Director Kadri Nasiep said, several businesses are interested in helping us produce residential electricity. We are also trying to increase solar power generation by incentivizing them. After that we will buy surplus electricity from them.
South Africa’s state-owned power generation and supply company ‘ISCOM’ is in debt due to corruption and mismanagement by former President Jacob Zuma’s administration. The productivity of the establishment has decreased. The company said that it will be able to meet only 56.6 percent of the country’s total electricity demand in the current fiscal year 2022-23. South Africa’s ongoing power crisis is not improving any time soon.
