Lawyers issue letter of demand to Eskom, Gordhan over load shedding
(News24) – High-powered lawyers, leaders, and major groups issued public enterprises minister Pravin Gordhan and Eskom CEO André de Ruyter with a letter of demand to stop load-shedding with immediate effect. The legal team said their clients had instructed them to draft the letter of demand. Eskom and Gordhan have until January 20 to respond to the letter to avoid further legal action. READ MORE.
Government plans to focus on six ailing power stations to resolve the electricity crisis
(Daily Maverick) – Emergency legislation will be tabled to get new power projects connected to the grid says the national energy crisis committee of ministers (Neccom). In a briefing to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Monday, Neccom warned that there were no shortcuts to solving the power crisis. Neccom will oversee a process, which will seek to focus on six underperforming power stations in the country. READ MORE.
Eskom load-shedding could plunge South Africa into recession
(MyBroadband) – In the latest Bloomberg survey of seven economists, 45% of respondents said South Africa could fall into a recession this year based on unprecedented load-shedding. The probability of a recession in the next 12 months has increased from 35% in November, which was the start of the longest consecutive streak of power cuts. READ MORE.
Davos 2023: SA plans to end load-shedding in 12-18 months, says Godongwana
(Business Day) – Speaking on the sidelines at the World Economic Forum currently underway in Davos, Switzerland, finance minister Enoch Godongwana claimed that load-shedding could be solved in the next 12 to 18 months. Godongwana said there was a plan to improve energy provision that would make load-shedding a thing of the past. His comments come after energy minister Gwede Mantashe said load-shedding would be solved in six to 12 months, last week. READ MORE.
What’s happening in the markets?
The rand slipped significantly on Monday, having lost the most in more than a week while the US markets were closed due to the Martin Luther King Day holiday. The rand fell as much as 1.6% in intraday trading to R17.12/$. The JSE closed weaker while its peers were mixed with the All Share Index down 0.21% to 79,167 points.
