South Africa’s current electricity crisis calls for the declaration of a state of emergency, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) said on Thursday.
State-run power utility Eskom has been implementing rolling blackouts due to the combined effects of losses in the generation capacity, labour unrest and maintenance backlogs.
Joining several other organisations that have raised concern over the ongoing power shortages, COSATU general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali said the government should “now declare an emergency.”
“We are in a crisis that we have never seen before,” Ntshalintshali said.
He said it was time for the government to harness the massive electricity generation capacity held by independent power producers.
“There is no point in opposing the idea of dealing with them. What we are opposed to is the privatization of Eskom,” he said.
Farmers body, Agri South Africa, recently reported that the rolling power outages have seriously disrupted farming operations – posing long-term risks to the economy.
NM/jn/APA