South Africa needs to invest in new electricity generation capacity and instill confidence in its ability to generate power, Energy Minister Jeff Radebe said.
Radebe told an energy conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday that the investment was necessary so as not to deter investment.
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The country’s cash-strapped state power firm, Eskom, was recently forced to implement some of the worst planned blackouts in years as much of its capacity went offline.The minister said that the five-day power cut by the state-owned power plant, Eskom, was “untenable”.
South Africa’s Eskom imposed a five-day of power blackouts on homes and businesses on Thursday, helping to drive the rand to a six-week low.
Eskom said in Johannesburg the cut was due to a shortage of coal and breakdowns.
Eskom, which supplies more than 90 per cent of the country’s power, is technically insolvent, the government had said.
It warned that an urgent bailout was needed to help it manage its more than 30 billion dollars of debt. (NAN)
