Background

South Africa is facing its worst electricity crisis ever, with load shedding implemented when there is insufficient power and the electricity grid needs to be kept stable. Load shedding is a major issue caused by a lack of investment in infrastructure, poor maintenance, mismanagement, and corruption. It has resulted in power outages of up to 12 hours a day and has a negative impact on the country's domestic economic growth, investor sentiment, and overall economy.

The problem started in 2007 when the country failed to build new power stations to keep up with economic growth and replace ageing generation plants, and has progressively gotten worse. The proposed solution to this issue is to move from state-owned coal-fired power stations to privately owned renewable forms of energy.

Load shedding also hinders the uptake of 4IR technologies and reduces the potential benefits to the economy. It causes disruptions in day-to-day life, such as power outages in businesses, roads, hospitals and households. In 2022 alone, South Africans experienced 208 days of load shedding. This means that for 57% of 2022, households have had to accommodate the inconvenience of load shedding.