Load shedding over, focus turns to soaring power costs: Ramaphosa

President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared the recent phase of South Africa’s electricity reform programme successful, as load shedding has largely been eliminated. However, the focus now shifts to addressing the soaring costs of power, which pose a significant challenge to key industries such as metals and engineering. Ramaphosa emphasized that affordable electricity is crucial for sustaining these energy-intensive sectors, as unaffordable tariffs are driving some companies to close their operations and lay off thousands of employees.

Despite the recent achievements in reducing load shedding, Ramaphosa noted that illegal connections in some areas still contribute to intermittent power outages. He stressed that future reforms must strike a balance between ensuring a reliable power supply and keeping electricity prices competitive to foster industrial growth, investment, and job creation.

The President highlighted the urgent need to tackle the issue of rising electricity tariffs, which have outpaced inflation over the past two decades, making electricity charges sometimes higher than labour costs. He warned that without intervention, these high tariffs could force energy-intensive industries to shut down permanently, resulting in a loss of productive capacity, skills, export earnings, and thousands of jobs across the industrial value chains.