South African president declares ‘state of disaster’ over power crisis

South African president declares 'state of disaster' over power crisis

By Wendell Roelf and Carien du Plessis

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday declared a national “state of disaster” over the country‘s power crisis, saying it posted an existential threat to South Africa’s economy and society.

“We are in the grip of a profound energy crisis, the seeds of which were planted many years ago,” Ramaphosa said in his annual State of the Nation Address to parliament.

Struggling state utility Eskom is implementing the worst rolling blackouts on record that are expected to wipe as much as 2 percentage points off economic growth in Africas most industrialised nation this year.

Pressure has mounted on Ramaphosa to provide solutions as South African households and businesses face hours of daily outages.

Declaring a national state of disaster gives the government additional powers to respond to a crisis including by enabling emergency procurement procedures and new regulations to be enforced.

It used the same legislation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Ramaphosa also said on Thursday he would appoint a minister of electricity within the presidency.