South Africa: power cuts force companies to reduce activity and cut jobs

Power cuts can reach up to 10 hours a day in South Africa.

Here, a normally well-lit highway on September 21, 2022. © Denis Farrell / AP

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In South Africa, after a lull for Christmas, power cuts resumed with a vengeance at the end of the year.

At issue: aging coal-fired power plants that regularly break down due to lack of good management in recent years.

And these cuts have direct consequences on the economy and growth, while the country was just recovering from the health crisis.

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With our correspondent in Johannesburg,

Claire Bargelès

The year 2022 is one of the worst for South Africans

in terms of power cuts

, with more than 200 days of load shedding on the meter, while the installations of the public company Eskom, which supplies more than 90% of the country's electricity

fail to produce enough

.

A difficult situation for individuals... but even more so for companies, while growth was just beginning to improve in the third quarter.

Latest example: KFC, the American fast food chain, announced Wednesday, December 28 on its Twitter account to temporarily close some of its South African franchises, while others will only have a limited menu to offer.

We are sorry, but due to the ongoing loadshedding, some of our restaurants will be temporarily closed, while others may have limited availability on some of your favorite menu items.


We apologize for the inconvenience and will be back soon.

pic.twitter.com/RTkWRQLDjO

— KFC South Africa (@KFCSA) December 27, 2022

And it is not the only major firm to report difficulties: several telecommunications companies, as well as large retail chains have denounced lost sales and numerous additional costs, while diesel-hungry generators are running at full speed. .

The new year doesn't look much better, as Eskom bosses have already announced that load shedding is set to continue into 2023.

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Read also:

South Africa struggles to abandon coal in the face of rising demand

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