Eskom has been at the centre of South Africa’s energy woes for over a decade. The entity has been plagued by mismanagement, the breakdown of infrastructure at power stations, sabotage and corruption. The country’s erratic electricity supply has impacted businesses, with some saying it has led to wide-scale job losses.
South Africans have been bombarded with continuing doom and gloom reports from the embattled parastatal, including the fact that the utility desperately needs diesel to run its coal-fired power stations. Unfortunately, diesel has been in short supply in the country due to a lack of funding. In the meantime, citizens are forced to pay more for electricity. This follows the COP27 announcement of funding totalling nearly U.S.$86 billion (R1.5 trillion) being allocated for the nation to transition to a low carbon and resilient climate society for the five years 2023-2027.