This archive report was first published on 9 December 2019.
Published on December 9, 2019, South Africa's power crisis continues to worsen, with the state-owned utility Eskom implementing stage 6 load shedding.
Load shedding, a measure to prevent a collapse of the electricity grid, was previously implemented in February and October. However, the current stage 6 load shedding, which requires 6000MW to be rotationally load shed, is a significant escalation.
Eskom's struggles to produce power are attributed to ageing infrastructure at its coal-fired power stations and decades of mismanagement. The company has a 450 billion rand ($30 billion) debt, despite multiple bailouts from the state.
Government plans to pour 128 billion rand (around $8.8 billion) into Eskom over a three-year period that began in February 2019. However, the problems with the construction of Medupi and its 'twin' Kusile station account for much of the financial crisis at Eskom.
President Cyril Ramaphosa acknowledged that the construction of Medupi and Kusile has been plagued by cost escalations, delays, and underperformance. He announced plans to divide Eskom into three subsidiaries: generation, transmission, and distribution, by March 2020.
