International Relations and Cooperation Minister, Naledi Pandor says as the South African delegation prepares to travel to Davos Switzerland for the World Economic Forum (WEF) next week, the growing opportunities in the country hydrogen economy and the rise of start up companies must be highlighted.
She says while the country faces a number of challenges, the message that must be taken to the international investment community is one of a South Africa that is willing and able to deal with its challenges.
Pandor says South Africa’s position with regards to the war in Ukraine is one of advocating for peace through negotiation.
“I think we need to say that South Africa is open for business. Countries are looking for new opportunities, they are looking at reviving their economies. But we are also in a very very geopolitical and we need to be aware of that. For South Africa, our experience is that you make major decisions of conflict through well crafted negotiations processes, so we should advocate for peace,” adds Pandor.
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Rolling blackouts
Meanwhile, energy expert Matthew Cruise, says South Africa could remain on stage six of rolling blackouts for the rest of 2023, if the problems at Eskom are not urgently addressed.
On Wednesday, the power utility announced that rolling blackouts would be escalated to stage six indefinitely after it suffered breakdowns at 11 of its power stations.
The City of Johannesburg has called on residents to report theft and damage to infrastructure, particularly cables.
Cruise says it’s worrying on solution is in sight to address the country’s energy crisis.
“One thing I want to point out about Eskom being on stage six load shedding being indefinitely means it could be infinitely long. We might be on stage 6 forever and there’s a possibility of Eskom saying that its indefinite because previously they would let us know that it would reduce in a weeks’ time or couple of days’ time and they have not said that and that’s very concerning.”
“Because it means that they don’t even know themselves how they will be the country’s power need by next week. We could have load shedding for 10 years because there are no quick fixes, no matter what the government does. This year, it’s possible that we could have load shedding every single day of the year.”
Energy department to oversee Eskom:
