By Ziyanda Mhlauli
No politician can afford to give an address, have a press briefing or answer any questions publicly without speaking about the energy crisis which is manifesting itself in the form of load shedding.
Load shedding and its effects have been extensively discussed by the public, analysts and even the president of the Republic.
“The Sowetan” recently released a staggering article where they listed approximately 60 small business which closed because of load shedding. That was a picture of a wider problem across the country.
In a country where the unemployment rate is 32.7%, which essentially means 7.8 million people in quarter two of 2022, and with a potential of load shedding being a reality for the next three years to come, it is important to analyse the impact of load shedding on all spheres of a “capable state”.
The basic tenet of a government is that it should be able to make its citizens feel secure. This is basic International Relations, safe against outside threats, but also violent threats which may arise from within the country. That is why most countries have a domestic police force. To say whether the one in South Africa is effective or not is outside of the prescripts of this article.
The ANC in 1991, prior to being in government, in their conference coined the ‘ready to govern document’ . This document outlined how the ‘government in waiting’ envisioned the functions of government and the purpose it is supposed to play to citizens. It is in this document that they extended on the definition of security but also put an emphasis on the socio-economic well-being of citizens in order for the country to prosper. They assert that poverty is man-made and therefore will not be a part of the South African society forever. This is why they commit to social welfare which will assist with the alleviation of poverty. In this the ANC asserts: “Social welfare includes the basic rights to shelter, food, health, employment, education, and all those aspects that promote physical, social and emotional well-being of all in our society.”
Load shedding, and a host of other problems which are outside the scope of this paper, has undermined the commitments of the ruling party to prove itself worthy ‘ready to govern’ South Africa. Although unemployment has decreased to 32.7% in the fourth quarter of 2022 from 32.9% in the third quarter, the number of unemployed people remains at a high 7.78 million. Job losses were mostly recording in the community and social services sector, agriculture, and construction sector.
Load shedding has had a devastating impact on the agricultural sector which has had a domino effect on several social ills in society. Agri SA reported that at the end of September 2022 the agricultural sector had lost R23 billion. This was due to crop failure and decrease in productivity because of load shedding. This has an impact on food security. The sector reports that the dairy sector is at a standstill when there is load shedding, despite some establishments having generators.
Fruit which needs to be stored a certain temperature often rots or ripens very quickly as a result of load shedding. This has had an impact on employment – because of the challenges mentioned above the sector has had to relieve some employees of their responsibilities.
Although not part of the sectors which have lost employees, the health-care sector has been affected by load shedding. Out of 400 health care facilities across the country, only 77 have been exempted from load shedding. This means that in excess of 300 hospitals have to rely on generators – which can fail because of an overload of energy on them and a lack of diesel – torchlight, and cooler boxes to keep vaccines and medicines at correct temperatures. This has caused a loss of life in many public hospitals because of the inability to perform important surgeries and the failure of equipment such as ventilators.
These are just two major effects of the energy crisis and does not even begin to scratch the surface of the personal cost that individual South Africans have to bear as a result of load shedding. The government of the ANC is unable to reach targets set out by itself in the ‘ready to govern’ document. It has been unable to “develop a sustainable economy and state infrastructure that will progressively improve the quality of life of all South Africans”. The next logical question becomes, what is to be done when the government of the day fails to meet its own targets?
The energy crisis is yet another failure by the ruling party to alleviate poverty and improve the lives of South Africans. If government fails to resolve this issue, the ANC may not enjoy an absolute majority in 2024.
* Ziyanda Mhlauli is a research intern at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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