Tag: load shedding

Rolling blackouts and the recently imposed 18.65% Eskom tariff hikes from April next month are likely to place additional stress on the South African consumer and businesses to the extent that further bankruptcies are inevitable. With the prospect of higher interest rates, low growth and still high inflation, many companies could face corporate failures particularly in the early part of 2023.

The untapped potential of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in the country is astounding. However, the red tape placed on them is even more startling. In South Africa we wouldn’t stand for our national teams playing with their hands tied behind their back.

We are pleased to share our second South Africa Economic Outlook report for 2023. In the wake of Budget 2023 and announced incentives for investment in solar power generation, this edition focuses on green incentives and their role in encouraging local businesses to invest in renewable electricity generation.

Every South African is currently faced with the ongoing negative effects of rolling electricity blackouts, which Government euphemistically refers to as “load shedding”. It affects our businesses, our homes, our livelihoods, our safety and our faith in the future of our country.

As South Africa’s electricity crisis worsens, accompanied by increased interest rates, food and petrol prices, the country's potential to enter a recession rises exponentially. As most economists have noted, South Africa presently falls short on both micro and macroeconomic benchmarks, from exports and imports to infrastructure development and ballooning interest rates.

2022 was an extremely tough year for global fixed income assets, with long bond yields rising sharply in developed markets resulting in one of the worst years for bond markets in almost a century. Emerging market bonds suffered both from a correlated move higher in yields in line with developed market bonds, but also from heightened volatility.

One of the biggest stress in the lives of pet owners is feeding them when no one can be home. Now there’s a gadget for that. Just three years ago, the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, the world’s biggest launch pad for new gadgets, was set alight by a Wi-Fi enabled automatic pet feeder called Feeder-Robot, “designed to give every pet parent complete peace of mind”.

2023 is poised to be a year of accelerated change in and for South Africa. As the country heads toward a general election in 2024, a sea-change is on the cards. The African National Congress (ANC) are by all accounts on the point of obtaining below 50% at the voting booth; some estimates have the party even under 45%.

It is important to understand the difference between load shedding and electrical grid failure. Load shedding, as we understand it today, is controlled interruption of electricity supply to the public. These scheduled interruptions do not affect any municipal institution; however, electrical grid failure will affect municipalities as well as any public infrastructure.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, had the unenviable task of delivering the annual Budget Speech. Over the last year, and especially over the last few months, South Africa has taken one knock after another.