Ramaphosa to skip Davos to attend to Eskom crisis

President Cyril Ramaphosa will no longer attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos due to the ongoing energy crisis in the country, his spokesman said on Sunday.

Power cuts have worsened since Tuesday when struggling state-owned utility Eskom said it would implement its worst-ever outages until further notice.

The power cuts are a major source of public frustration with the ANC and a brake on economic growth in the country.

“Currently the president is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, Neccom (the National Energy Crisis Committee) and the Eskom board,” presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.

He added that further briefing sessions with key stakeholders will take place during this coming week.

The beleaguered Eskom supplies the vast majority of South Africa’s electricity, relying mainly on an ageing fleet of coal-fired power stations that are unreliable and prone to faults.  — (c) 2023 Reuters

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