South Africa's economy could fall into its second recession in three years due to increased winter power cuts, local news portal Independent Online reported on Friday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th May, 2023) South Africa's economy could fall into its second recession in three years due to increased winter power cuts, local news portal Independent Online reported on Friday.
South Africa's power utility, Eskom, warned on Thursday that it may implement an enhanced load-shedding regime during the winter months of June to August due to increased demand for electricity during cold weather.
In 2022, Eskom experienced the highest level of load shedding, which caused a 2.1 percentage point reduction in South Africa's real GDP growth and cost the country's economy over $15 billion, the report said. In addition, Eskom has reportedly implemented more hours of load shedding since the beginning of 2023 than in all of 2022.
South Africa has been experiencing power shortages since 2008, which have recently reached record levels due to unprecedented damage to Eskom's power stations. Since November 2022, the country has faced daily blackouts at peak times, hindering the country's economic growth and affecting every part of people's daily lives. On February 9, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a national disaster to address the country's electricity crisis.
In early May, the president ordered 880 soldiers to guard Eskom power stations across South Africa in response to continued sabotage, theft and other crimes that could threaten the country's power stations and electricity supply.
