On a dry plain in Limpopo province in 2007, the leaders of South Africa’s monopoly utility broke ground for a huge new power plant. It was named Medupi for “rain that soaks parched lands” in Sepedi, a local language.

Eskom, the national (and sole) electricity provider in South Africa has embarked on a programme of load shedding (planned power outages) as a result of maintenance on the grid. Such power outages are not new, but previously they’ve usually occurred in winter at times of high electricity demand.

Energy expert Ted Blom says that Eskom is in crisis, which is evident by the current daily load-shedding schedule being implemented as the state owned company struggles with coal shortages and rising maintenance costs.

In a letter to the Group Chief Executive of Eskom, the president of TAU SA, Mr Louis Meintjes, expresses his serious concerns about the impact of load shedding on commercial agriculture.

It’s deja vu for South Africa as a chronic power deficit plunges large tracts of the country into darkness and casts a pall over the already struggling economy.

Public enterprise minister, Pravin Gordhan, has outlined some of the issues which has led to Eskom instituting load shedding over the past week, on a daily basis.

Units at all 12 of Eskom’s oldest and most important power stations have shut down, leading to an unprecedented 17,371MW of power being removed from the grid, City Press reports.

The failure of the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) to register small-scale solar photovoltaic installations in Eskom electricity distribution areas is costing farmers dearly, says Ig du Plessis, director of power consultancy Sonfin.

South Africa’s state-owned power utility may need to reinstate rolling power cuts after factories and businesses reopen following the summer holiday period, said Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Phakamani Hadebe.

While news of another major petrol price cut in January will give many a happy start to the new year, finance experts warn that the year ahead may not be as bright and cheerful.

“Die enigste manier om die kragvoorsiening van Eskom te herstel en oor die lantermyn te verbeter is die herstel van die winsgewendheid en volhoubaarheid van die verskillende prosesse hoe elektrisiteit gegenereer word,” sê Fanie Brink, onafhanklike landbou-ekonoom.

"The only way to restore and improve power supply of Eskom over the long term is to restore the profitability and sustainability of the various processes of how electricity is supplied," says Fanie Brink, independent agricultural economist.

Agri SA se lede het die vermoë om elektrisiteit deur sonkragopwekking te verskaf, wat nodig is om toekomstige beurtkrag te voorkom.

Daagliks lees jy in die media van almal wat 'n eier te le het oor Suid Afrika en wat gedoen en nie gedoen moet word nie. Dis die een ondersoek na die ander en dit laat my dink aan my skooldae toe kinders so onder mekaar baklei het en die een die ander een "verklik" het.  Dit was bloot kinderpret maar hier praat ons van 'n land en 'n sogenaamde regering se doen en late in die donker en partykeer sommer in die lig ook. 

Another dark week looms for South Africans following Eskom’s announcement that it will continue to implement Stage 4 rotational load shedding as electricity generation falls short of demand – even though the weather is warm and demand is muted.

An electricity-supply crisis is looming in South Africa that could make intermittent outages in the past few months seem trivial by comparison.

South Africa is due to hold parliamentary and provincial elections on Wednesday, amid frustration with a lack of progress 25 years after the ANC swept to power at the end of apartheid.

Agri SA welcomes the attention President Cyril Ramaphosa gave to the Eskom crisis in his state of the nation address. It was heartening to see that Agri SA’s prior discussions with Minister Pravin Gordhan concerning the energy crises and agriculture’s role in addressing power shortages had been incorporated into the President’s address.

The scale of the economic devastation from South Africa’s severe lockdown regime is fast becoming apparent.