Ramaphosa issued his latest appeal on Thursday as companies struggle with hours of daily blackouts and the inability to transport everything from coal to citrus fruit, with criminals meeting little resistance to their stealing equipment and damaging infrastructure. The energy crisis alone is robbing the economy of as much as R899 million a day, according to the nation’s central bank.
“We are now confronted with the consequences of years of under-investment, mismanagement and corruption in our electricity, rail and logistics sectors, Ramaphosa said. “Doubters have had reason to be skeptical. We are on a long journey to rebuild our country and recover the ground we have lost.
South African companies are spending billions of rands to keep businesses running as Eskom, plagued by breakdowns at its coal-fired power plants, implements rotational blackouts for as long as 12 hours a day. That’s begun to hurt earnings.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. this week cut its recommendation for Shoprite, the continent’s biggest retailer, citing higher costs to deal with the energy crisis.
We’ve got material challenges in the short-to-medium term and you know, those are centered on infrastructure in general,” Mike Brown, chief executive officer at Nedbank said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “However, if we are able to successfully deal with those, and there are numerous plans underway and we are making progress, I certainly see South Africa as a country of enormous potential.”