South African energy crisis

[19] Following the first period of load shedding in 2007 to 2008 Eskom commissioned the construction of the Medupi and Kusile coal fired power plants to expand energy production by 25%.

[30][31] This transition has been slow, but there has been progress in recent years, with the government's commitment to procuring renewable energy and reducing the country's greenhouse gas emissions.

[34] might experience power cuts at the following times After the 2 hour disconnect period there is typically an additional 30 minutes added to allow for switching on, not counted in the totals as mentioned above.

[41] In May 2022, the Minister for Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, reported to Parliament that additional incidents of cables being cut intentionally by saboteurs, rising theft at its power plants, and corruption around the supply of fuel oil, had greatly worsened the energy crisis and Eskom's ability to resolve it.

[42] South African journalist Kyle Cowan has speculated that these acts of sabotage were politically motivated by unknown groups or individuals within Eskom involved in corruption.

[43] In December 2022, President Ramaphosa's spokesperson announced that the South African National Defence Force would be deployed at four Eskom power stations "in response to the growing threat of sabotage, theft, vandalism and corruption"[44][45] for an indeterminate length of time.

[46] In late February 2023, then Eskom CEO, André de Ruyter, controversially stated that four criminal syndicates had established themselves within the national utility,[47] that an unnamed senior ANC MP was involved,[48][49] and that the government lacked the political will to resolve the situation.

[55][56] The government claimed the shortage had caught them by surprise since the South African economy had grown faster than expected; however, their target growth rate of 6% per year was not reached from 1996 to 2004.

[61] On 5 December 2014, Eskom started major stage three load shedding in South Africa after the shut down of two power plants on 4 November (of said year) due to diesel shortages.

Unusually heavy rains in the highveld region of South Africa resulted in wet coal and flooding leading to a number of plants being unable to operate effectively,[68][69] most notably at Medupi power station.

[70][71][72] President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that an additional reason for the load shedding was the loss of 2,000 MW due to alleged sabotage by an Eskom employee.

[73][74] Eskom chief operations officer, Jan Oberholzer, publicly stated that the primary reason for load shedding was due to a lack of maintenance and neglect over the preceding twelve years resulting in an unpredictable and unreliable system.

[76] An additional round of load shedding (stage 4)[77] was initiated in March 2020 when the Koeberg Nuclear power station experienced a fault with one of the sea water cooling pumps.

[83] After providing uninterrupted power for 77 days, Eskom announced on 7 October 2021 that stage 2 load shedding would resume due to planned and unplanned outages.

[86][87] On 27 October 2021 Eskom announced that stage 4 load shedding would be implemented for three days due to problems with the Medupi, Kusile, Matla, Lethabo and Arnot power stations.

[88] That same day, the governing party of South Africa, the African National Congress (ANC) spokesperson Pule Mabe raised concerns that the recent load shedding schedule may be politically motivated, given the upcoming 2021 municipal elections.

[89] Following the 2021 municipal elections, stage 4 load shedding recommenced on 5 November due to problems at Kendal, Tutuka, Matimba, Majuba and Lethabo power stations.

[90] In a post-election address on 8 November, President Ramaphosa remarked that the continuing reliance on Eskom, as the sole national generator, was a central risk to the power supply system.

[91] Eskom announced that level 2 load shedding would be re-implemented from 2 to 7 February 2022 due to the breakdown of two generating units at the Kusile and Kendal power stations.

[112] On 22 February 2023, Eskom announced that its former CEO André de Ruyter, who was due to leave the company next month, had left with immediate effect amid a worsening nationwide energy crisis.

[113] The announcement came after its former CEO gave an interview with the eNCA news agency where he expressed doubts about the political will in government to end endemic graft at the power utility.

In an effort to address allegations of corruption at Eskom as well as the unprecedented power shortages, President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Kgosientsho Ramokgopa as the country's first ever electricity minister.

These range from reducing economic growth[23][121] and making it more difficult to do business in the country[122][123] to increasing crime rates[124][125] and shaping South African politics.

The Health and Allied Workers Indaba Trade Union said "nurses were fed up with relying on mobile phone torchlights, unreliable generators, and using cooler boxes to keep vaccines and other medicines at the correct temperatures".

[132] Incidents of metal theft, house breaking and robberies due to a lack of security lighting and alarms had increased in some urban areas of South Africa during the period when level 6 loadshedding was implemented.

However, as of November 2021 load shedding led to diminished mobile network coverage, as backup batteries have also been stolen and cellphone stations vandalised during power outages.

However, regularly scheduled mandatory load shedding started in April 2008, to allow maintenance periods of power generators, and recovery of coal stockpiles before the winter, when electricity usage is expected to surge.

[157] In December that year an agreement between Eskom and Areva to replace steam generators at the Koeberg nuclear plant was judged "unlawful", by the Supreme Court of Appeal, bringing the utility company's tender process into question.

[161] In January 2018 Eskom's acting Chief Financial Officer stated that the company could not afford a new build, following a 34% drop in interim profits due to declining sales and increasing financing costs.

Though Cape Town lost its case, in October 2020 the government changed its regulations to allow municipalities to build generation facilities or purchase electricity, subject to the final approval of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.