Eskom is turning out the lights in South Africa
Dec 12th 2019JOHANNESBURGIN RECENT DAYS the only thing darker than South Africans’ homes has been their humour. On December 9th Eskom, the state-owned power utility, announced its biggest-ever blackouts, turning off the lights across Africa’s most industrialised country. Some wags used the remaining battery on their phones to vent on social media. “The E in South Africa stands for electricity,” read one post. Another suggested that “Eskom’s been bad all year…in the hope they’ll get coal for Christmas.”Many South Africans have stopped seeing the funny side. The failure of Eskom’s coal-fired power stations meant the loss of almost a third of its 44,000MW capacity (14,000MW, roughly the potential output of Denmark). The blackouts may tip the country into recession for the second time in two years.Choose us for news analysis that respects your time and intelligenceSubscribe to The EconomistWe filter out the noise of the daily news cycle and analyse the trends that matterWe give you rigorous, deeply researched and fact-checked journalism. That’s why Americans named us their most trusted news source in 2017Available wherever you are—in print, digital and, uniquely, in audio, fully narrated by professional broadcastersThis website adheres to all nine of NewsGuard‘s standards of credibility and transparency.ORContinue reading this articleRegister with an email address