Busa ‘unsurprised’ state has let load-shedding reach crisis levels

Lobby group Business Unity SA (Busa) says it is unsurprised the government has let load-shedding reach “crisis levels”,  calling on the state to hold saboteurs to account and remove all remaining barriers to private sector power generation.

Power utility Eskom announced stage 6 load-shedding for the first time since 2019 on Tuesday, another blow to SA’s economic prospects, which have already been dented in 2022 by surging inflation and extreme levels of uncertainty stemming from the war in Ukraine.

“We must stress that while this is a serious and negative impact on the economy, we are, unfortunately, not surprised that we have reached this crisis situation,” Busa CEO Cas Coovadia said in a statement on Tuesday.

“We have been urging the government for numerous years to remove all barriers to private sector intervention in the generation of energy and power, but it is only recently that government has heeded these considerations.”

Busa said it welcomed the authorisation by the National Energy Regulator of SA (Nersa) of 16 embedded generation projects, but said this must become “the norm rather than the exception”.

“We remain committed to working with government in providing capacity and expertise to alleviate what is now a serious crisis for citizens and the economy,” he said.

gernetzkyk@businesslive.co.za