Business

5 important things happening in South Africa today

Staff Writer

 ·24 Jan 2023

Here’s what is happening in and affecting South Africa today:

• Chimney collapse: Eskom is working urgently to stop the collapse of a 220-metre-tall chimney at the Kusile power station. On October 2022, a 9-metre diameter flue duct for Kusile unit 1 collapsed due to an ash build-up in the pipe, which also made units 2 and 3 inoperable. Eskom is working with international contractors to find a temporary solution allowing the three units back on the grid – potentially reducing load shedding by two stages. However, these temporary solutions could still take over a year to implement. [News24]

• Legal action against tariff increase:  Build One South Africa (Bosa), the United Democratic Movement (UDM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) have filed court papers against the Nersa-approved 19% electricity tariff increase. Mmusi Maimane, the leader of Bosa, said that it is unfair for South Africans to be subjected to increased electricity prices during extended blackouts. He added that taking the state to court will hold it accountable for its involvement in load shedding. [EWN]

• Coal to stay: President Cyril Ramaphosa says coal-fired powered plants will not be phased out despite the country’s transition to renewable energies. He added that 80% of South Africa’s electricity is generated from coal, making it near impossible for the government to rely exclusively on renewable energy. The president conceded that the country’s power stations are ageing – 43 years on average – but instead of retiring them, the government is trying to repurpose the power stations, which will improve performance. [TimesLive]

• Wind energy crisis: South African Wind Energy Association (Sawea) wants international experts to help salvage 23 wind energy projects that failed to achieve preferred bidder status in the government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement (REIPPP) programme. Over R100 million was invested into the projects, but a lack of connection capacity in Eskom’s transmission grid meant it was left out of the REIPPP programme, despite investors relying on a report from Eskom that indicated that there was enough grid capacity. [MoneyWeb]

• Markets: The South African rand slipped on Monday as the US dollar edged up on global markets, with investor attention this week pinned on the South African Reserve Bank’s first interest rate decision of the year. The SARB will announce its rate decision on Thursday, with 11 of the 20 economists polled by Reuters predicting a 50 basis point (bps) hike to 7.50%. On Tuesday (24 January), the rand was trading at R17.21/$, R18.71/€, and R21.31/£. Brent crude is trading at $88.13 a barrel. [Nasdaq]