South Africa: Group protests against loadshedding at Eskom’s headquarters

Civil society organisation Stand Up SA gathered droves of supporters to march to power utility Eskom’s Sunninghill headquarters in Sandton,  Johanesburg, Thursday to demand an end to load shedding and a pending electricity tariff hike. Their demands echoed those of many South Africans facing an energy crisis. 

South Africa’s energy crisis is now a major disaster that needs urgent fixing, according to experts who believe the government’s failure to invest in new power plants is at the root of the problem.

The frequency and duration of the rolling power cuts to households and businesses are now at unprecedented levels.

South Africa generates approximately 85% of its energy from coal. The national power utility, Eskom, has the capacity to generate up to 45,000 megawatts but it has been unable to supply even 27,000 MW, giving rise to power cuts or load-shedding that can last several hours a day.