SA faces more power cuts but Eskom denies threat of grid collapse

SA faces more power cuts but Eskom denies threat of grid collapse

South Africans faced another round of power cuts on Sunday night as the country’s chronic Eskom electricity grid failures continue, despite reassurances from officials that there will be no system collapse in the face of increasing winter demand. Stage 4 loadshedding was planned into Monday and will be “repeated daily…

Laureen Fagan

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

South Africa plans appeal after UAE denies Gupta extradition

South Africa plans appeal after UAE denies Gupta extradition

South Africa has responded to news that an extradition request for Rajesh and Atul Gupta, long wanted in connection with its years-long “state capture” corruption investigations, was denied this week by authorities in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In a statement issued by Chrispin Phiri, spokesman for the Ministry of…

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

SA energy, economy in focus during Ramaphosa’s ANC anniversary speech

SA energy, economy in focus during Ramaphosa’s ANC anniversary speech

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address on Sunday as the African National Congress marked its 111th year, prioritizing the country’s energy crisis and economic challenges in his speech at Mangaung, Free State. Ramaphosa, re-elected as ANC leader in December despite being the subject of recent corruption investigations,…

Laureen is the editor of Africa Times

South Africa confirms Gupta arrests in UAE

Two members of the Gupta family, wanted in South Africa in connection with a years-long “state capture” corruption investigation involving multiple entities and officials, have been taken into custody in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The arrest of Rajesh and Atul Gupta was confirmed late Monday by the Ministry of…

SA flooding cripples power plants, spikes load shedding

South Africa was the latest African nation to be battered by extreme weather, as flooding rains led to water rescues and swaths of the nation were thrown into the dark by damage to facilities of state-owned utility provider Eskom. The national weather service warned that rains were expected to continue…

Ramaphosa speaks out on Eskom power cuts as heat wave arrives

Following last week’s round of power cuts, South African utility provider Eskom said Monday that the likelihood of load-shedding episodes in the coming week was low – but some South Africans said they were still seeing hours-long blackouts anyway. “The system remains constrained and vulnerable and any unexpected shift, such…

South Africans face load shed again on Tuesday

Eskom customers in South Africa are enduring yet another round of load shedding this week. The beleaguered public utility, seeking a bailout for its massive debt and caught up in South Africa’s “state capture” corruption drama, started cutting power to customers again on a rotating basis. On Monday, Stage 4…

Greenpeace says time’s up for Eskom to comply with SA emissions standards

Environmental protection advocates at Greenpeace have stepped up to demand that South African power utility Eskom comply with the country’s Minimum Emissions Standards, rather than receive approval for continued waivers and postponements for excessive emissions. The Greenpeace activists say Eskom, with 17 coal-fired power plants, exceeded the limits for particulate…

South African miners rescued 30 hours after storm cuts power

More than 1,000 miners in South Africa trapped below ground since Wednesday night are safe, following the restoration of power following a storm-related outage. The miners at a Sibanye-Stillwater Beatrix gold mine near Welkom were brought to the surface early Friday morning after power was restored at about 3 a.m.,…