SA’s economy has still not got back to where it was in July 2007, judging from the country’s power consumption. Statistics SA reported on Thursday that total electricity generation in November was 20,822GWh, or 2.86% less than in October. SA’s electricity generation peaked at 23,801GWh in July 2007 before plunging 24% to 18,056GWh in February 2009 at the nadir of Eskom’s load shedding crisis. A fourfold increase in Eskom’s electricity tariffs since 2007, along with the closure of many mines and factories, led to South Africa’s power generation and consumption flatlining at about 20,700GWh for the past few years. Electricity generation and consumption is generally considered a good proxy for a country’s economic health.
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