Page 5 - AfrElec Week 04 2023

AfrElec COMMENTARY AfrElec

SMEs going bankrupt the dark during this continuous and worsen-
Load shedding is driving small businesses to ing energy crisis, an upbeat finance minister,
bankruptcy, with statistics already showing an Enoch Godongwana, says plans are afoot to
increase in liquidations in the third quarter of improve energy provision that will end the
2022 with an increase of 2.1% compared to the need for any rolling power cuts within a year
same period a year earlier. and a half.
Data from Statistics SA shows a year-on-year “Eventually, in the next 12-18 months, we will
increase of 4.4% in November 2022, with 166 be able to say load shedding is a thing of the past.
filings for company and close corporation liqui- That is the target,” Godongwana told Reuters
dations in that month. This included 51 filings on the margins of the World Economic Forum
in finance, insurance, real estate and business (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
services, 35 in trade, catering and accommoda- There is clearly a need for more consistent,
tion and 17 in community, social and personal coherent and well-articulated energy and elec-
services. tricity policies and strategies in South Africa,
However, according to Saul Levin, an execu- Yelland says. However, there is an apparent ina-
tive director of Trade & Industrial Policy Strat- bility and/or unwillingness by politicians and the
egies (TIPS), the sector proved to be resilient government to recognise, take accountability for,
and is now surpassing the numbers prior to the and confront the worsening energy and electric-
COVID-19 pandemic. Landlords, municipal- ity crisis head-on.
ities and industrial sites are now gearing up to
supply as much of their own electricity as possi- Rampant theft, criminality
ble through renewable energy. Increasing levels of electricity, steel, copper, alu-
minium conductor and cable theft, as well as van-
Energy and electricity policy dalism of electricity infrastructure and threats to
In his analysis of South Africa’s energy policy, personnel, are reaching a stage where Eskom and
Yelland blames a backward-looking failure by municipalities are beginning to abandon certain
leaders at the highest level to understand and areas of supply as “no-go” zones.
respond to challenges facing local energy and In addition, maladministration, procurement
electricity sectors, and to adapt accordingly. irregularities, fraud, corruption, criminality and
Over-complicated and outdated oversight sabotage within Eskom itself and its power sta-
and governance arrangements by an excessive tions, and at municipalities and their electricity
number of government departments and agen- distributors, is a major challenge, to the extent
cies -- together with inadequate policy, regula- that the army has been deployed to protect assets
tory, planning capacity for the electricity supply at a number of Eskom power stations.
and distribution industries of South Africa -- are
plainly evident, he says. Quo vadis?
At the same time, ongoing energy and elec- From the multitude of challenges facing the
tricity policy uncertainty, combined with mixed electricity supply and distribution industries
messaging from the Presidency, the Presidential of South Africa, it is clear there are indeed sig-
Climate Commission (PCC), the National Treas- nificant opportunities that could be realised by
ury, the Department or the Mineral Resources successfully addressing just some of these, says
and Energy (DMRE), the Department of Public Yelland.
Enterprises (DPE) and the Department of For- However, a continued failure to address these
estry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE), is challenges will have the inevitable result of ongo-
adding to the toll that regular load shedding is ing economic decline and loss of confidence by
taking on economic growth, business confidence citizens and business entities in South Africa,
and investment. leading to political, economic and social insta-
While South Africa is still stumbling in bility. ™

Week 04 26•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P5