South Africa faces a winter of social unrest as sustained power outages limit economic growth and job creation, amid a cost-of-living crisis and increasing political tensions ahead of next year's elections, says the Centre For Risk Analysis.
The local think-tank's opinion comes on the back of Bheki Nxumalo's appointment as Eskom's head of generation.
Previously head of Eskom Rotek Industries, a construction and logistics unit of Eskom, Nxumalo has also served as manager at two power plants, the power utility said this week. He will report directly to acting CEO Calib Cassim.
Nxumalo is the third person in a year to hold the position of head of generation. His predecessor, Rhulani Mathebula, quit in November, six months into the job, after failing to improve the division’s performance. Eskom is also searching for a permanent CEO, after the resignation of André de Ruyter.
The country is likely to be plagued by 43 weeks of severe blackouts, in which Eskom will impose daily outages of as much as 5,000 megawatts as it seeks to protect the national power grid from collapse, said Chris Hattingh, the centre's head of policy analysis. The projection is based on the power utility’s latest energy outlook, which suggests it won’t be able to meet demand during any week until March next year, he said.
The biggest labour union at Eskom demanded a 15% wage increase, as the cash-strapped utility struggles to generate enough power to meet the country’s needs, resulting in daily blackouts.
The National Union of Mineworkers wants the same raise for workers, with other increases in allowances for housing and other benefits, it said in a copy of a letter to Eskom seen by Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, the state-owned enterprise expects to complete the spin-off of its transmission company in the third quarter, according to its chair Mpho Makwana.
Fast-tracking the process to add a separate board of directors and other measures needed to hive off the unit will create a competitive electricity trading platform that’s part of a turnaround plan to “restore healthy energy availability” and end record power outages by March 2025, Makwana said.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.