South African companies are facing what retailer Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. has just called “a permanent new reality” — electricity shortages. The related costs are weighing heavily.
(Bloomberg) — South African companies are facing what retailer Pick n Pay Stores Ltd. has just called “a permanent new reality” — electricity shortages. The related costs are weighing heavily.
During a year that’s seen the worst national power cuts on record, the country’s biggest food retailers have increased investment in standby generators, rooftop solar panels and refrigerated trailer trucks. For many smaller businesses, the additional costs are crippling.
Read: South Africa Retailers Face Permanent Reality: Lack of Power
Top Platinum Miner Says Payouts to Decline as Outages Hit (Feb. 8, 11:19 a.m.)
Anglo American Platinum Ltd., the No. 1 platinum miner by value, said investor payouts will drop as worsening power outages in South Africa curb output and push up costs.
A year ago, the Anglo American Plc unit announced a record payout as automaker demand buoyed the price of rhodium and palladium, which are produced as byproducts of platinum mining. While metal prices have slipped back from 2021 levels, the biggest drag faced by miners are intensifying power blackouts as state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. struggles to keep its unreliable coal-fired plants working.
Read: Top Platinum Miner Says Payouts to Decline as Power Outages Hit
Tax Chief Urges Activism by South Africans Sick of Poor Services (Feb. 7, 5:15 p.m.)
South Africans disenchanted by poor governance and service-delivery failures should turn to activism instead of withholding tax payments, South African Revenue Service Commissioner Edward Kieswetter said Tuesday.
The commissioner’s comments come as the ruling African National Congress and President Cyril Ramaphosa face criticism over record power cuts. Severe outages are also affecting the supply of water in some of the nation’s biggest cities.
The crisis is forcing the country’s affluent minority to turn to the private sector, with increased demand for back-up power and rainwater harvesting and storage solutions by businesses and homes. The tax agency and National Treasury are engaging on potential relief measures for those that opt for costly alternatives to Eskom, Kieswetter said.
Eskom Says Diesel Turbines Most Viable Way to Alleviate Outages (Feb. 7, 2:34 p.m.)
Eskom said the most viable solution to minimize loadshedding in the short-term is to ensure that the company has the funds to run emergency diesel turbines at their maximum capability, according to presentation to lawmakers.
Eskom CEO Says Debt Relief, Tariffs Key to Utility’s Survival (Feb. 7, 12:29 p.m.)
Eskom needs debt relief in combination with tariff increases to survive, said outgoing Chief Executive Officer Andre de Ruyter, who has led the utility for three years as South Africa’s power outages have intensified.
South Africa Hit by Investment Strike, Key Mining Employer Says (Feb. 7, 6 a.m.)
Investors have lost faith in South Africa’s government and have halted investment despite a wealth of opportunities, the head of the country’s biggest employer in the crucial mining industry said.
More than 200 days of power cuts last year and blackouts every day so far in 2023 have dented confidence, as has the poor performance of the state transport utility and a plethora of other problems. Pledges to enact reforms to spur the economy have come to little, said Neal Froneman, chief executive officer at Sibanye Stillwater Ltd.
Read: South Africa Hit by Investment Strike, Key Mining Employer Says
Central Bank Says Outages May Cost $51 Million/Day (Feb. 6, 3:27 p.m.)
Rolling blackouts are costing South Africa’s economy as much as 899 million rand ($51 million) per day, according to estimates by the central bank.
Power cuts of about 6 to 12 hours a day, or so-called stage 3 and stage 6 outages, detract between 204 million rand and 899 million rand from the economy daily, the South African Reserve Bank said. Eskom, which produces almost all the country’s electricity has imposed stage 6 cuts, the most severe yet, for 10 days so far this year, according to Bloomberg calculations.
South African Energy Chief Sees Low Appetite for Private Power (Feb. 6, 12:36 p.m.)
South Africa’s Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe said fixing the state-owned power utility’s existing plants should be prioritized to end record blackouts, with private companies showing little interest in building their own capacity.
The “immediate focus” should be on improving the available plants’ performance through maintenance, Mantashe told the Investing in African Mining Indaba conference in Cape Town on Monday. Procurement of additional power over the short term and the import of energy from neighboring nations are other key solutions, he said.
Read: South African Energy Chief Sees Low Appetite for Private Power
South Africa Nears New Record for Daily Power Cuts (Feb. 6, 9:32 a.m.)
South Africa is nearing 100 consecutive days of rolling blackouts, the longest stretch yet, with more to come as its electricity crisis deepens.
Eskom, the state-owned company that produces almost all the electricity in Africa’s most industrialized economy, has imposed blackouts daily since Oct. 31, making Monday the 99th straight day of outages, according to Bloomberg calculations. The so-called loadshedding is likely to continue for at least two more years as Eskom overhauls its electricity generating fleet.
–With assistance from Prinesha Naidoo, Paul Vecchiatto, Paul Burkhardt and Jennifer Zabasajja.
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