COSATU calls for state of emergency due to ongoing electricity crisis

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has joined a number of organisations calling for the country to be placed under a state of emergency due to the ongoing electricity crisis.

Eskom has been implementing up to Stage 6 rolling blackouts due to losses in generation capacity amid the impact of labour unrest and maintenance backlogs.

Despite having signed a wage deal with unions, of seven percent across the board, power cuts continue to be implemented.

“I think we can declare an emergency on that one. We are in a crisis that we have never seen before. IPPs do exist as we speak now, so there is no point in opposing the idea of dealing with those issues. What we are opposed to is the privatisation of Eskom. The question of the IPPs is already existent and there is no point of arguing about that,” COSATU’s General Secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali explains.

Threats of rising food prices due to blackouts

Agriculture body, Agri SA, has warned that the recent escalation in rolling blackouts has seriously disrupted farming operations, posing long-term risks to consumers and the economy.

Farmers are reporting huge losses due to damages to machinery, equipment and stock amid power outages.

Agri SA’s Executive Director Christo van der Rheede says, “The agriculture sector really faced an uphill battle for the past few weeks, especially with the [load] shedding level 6 which has really caused a lot of problems.”

“Farmers also lose their equipment due to power surges and so forth. Your consumer, at the end of the day, suffers as a result of farmers sitting with the increased cost and even products being rejected by retailers because of a compromised cold-chain system.”