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.

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.

Agri SA acknowledges Eskom’s efforts to keep the lights on, but we are concerned by the potential negative impact that load shedding can have on the agricultural sector and the broader value chain. 

"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.

While there seems to be light at the end of the load shedding tunnel with Eskom reporting an improvement in performance at its plants, the cost to the economy is being calculated.Farmers reliant on electricity for parts of the business said the load shedding had a devastating impact on farming activities.

Eskom has been telling South Africans that its ageing coal-fired power station fleet is the main reason for breakdowns. However, the real reasons are much closer to home.

Irrigation farmers are warning of crop failure and higher food prices as intensifying power cuts leave them unable to properly water summer crops. 

The data released by Statistics South Africa this morning shows that consumer food price inflation slowed marginally to 12,7% in December 2022 from 12,8% in November.

The food security risk from severe load-shedding is evident across South Africa’s agricultural sector and the broader food, fibre and beverages value chain.

In January, news outlets countrywide reported on the culling of more than 10 million day-old chicks in the egg and poultry industries — the result of ventilation shutdowns brought on by stage six load-shedding.

It is beyond dispute that every sector of the South African economy has suffered from the impact of rolling blackouts. But agriculture has suffered disproportionately, with numerous commodities under severe strain.

Over the past 15 years South Africa has been experiencing a gradually worsening number of electricity cuts. This state of affairs has prompted frustration among citizens, negative international economic sentiment and financial hardship for many businesses.