First the blackouts were occasional, by surprise; then something like once a month; then, one day a week, two, three, four, five; later they became part of the daily routine and could occur at any time; now they are guaranteed in periods of up to twelve hours in a row. A disaster for business, for tourism and for the daily life of citizens.
A country cannot function like this, and President Cyril Ramaphosa this week declared a state of emergency that allows him to circumvent existing legislation to deal with the problem and gives the government special powers to make appointments, provide emergency services and facilitate the supply of goods and services.
But no matter how many exceptional powers the executive claims, basically there is no more wax than what burns, or in this case more coal than what burns. South Africa, the most industrialized nation in Africa, is almost completely dependent on fossil fuels and has hardly invested in renewable energy (7% of the total). In fact, the chronic lack of investment by the state company Eskom, a veritable hornet's nest of corruption, is the source of the crisis.
Eskom, which generates 90 percent of the electricity consumed in South Africa, has an accumulated debt of 25,000 million euros and depends on a network of archaic coal-fired power plants, poorly maintained and completely obsolete, which suffer breakdowns every two per three. “Since the coming to power of the previous president, Jakob Zuma, the executives, their friends and protégés, have pocketed the money that should have been dedicated to modernizing the facilities and incorporating new technology,” says Lucien Van der Esch, an analyst at the energy sector.
The demand is higher than the supply of electricity, and blackouts are inevitable. Supply cuts, according to a World Bank report, cost the national economy 1,350 million rand a day (about 70 million euros). At the end of the year, more than 25,000 million euros. This in a country that is struggling to come out of recession, with half the population unemployed, brutal differences between rich and poor and an external debt of 120,000 million euros. It is not surprising that protest demonstrations are frequent in large cities such as Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town, Pretoria and Port Elizabeth.
The Ramaphosa government intends to use emergency powers to speed up coordination between government agencies, energy regulators and the private sector, and install solar panels to reduce reliance on coal. The drama is especially dire for hospitals and schools that lack their own generators, an exclusive privilege of big business, luxury hotels, water treatment plants, and millionaires who can't do without internet, Netflix, and cable TV. cable in their mansions in neighborhoods like Constantia, in Cape Town.
Among the main victims, in addition to the citizens who spend half the day in the dark and cannot even withdraw money from ATMs, are small businesses, which are the backbone of the South African economy and contribute a third of its gross domestic product: restaurants, cafes, hairdressers, shebeens (bars or premises that sell alcohol without a license), clothing, grocery and souvenir shops...
The situation is dramatic in the vineyards of the Western Cape province, and towns like Franschhoek and Stellenbosch, where the harvest began in January, and without electricity it is impossible to carry out the fermentation, bottling and labeling processes. South Africa is the world's eighth largest producer of wine (half of which is exported), the industry generates €3.5 billion in annual revenue and is expanding into China and Asian markets. But the constant blackouts have drastically reduced growth prospects, not only for this sector but also for tourism and the entire economy. South Africa is literally in the dark and it will take a long time for light to come.
