Blackouts started rolling across parts of South Africa on Thursday after a week’s worth of rain soaked the coal supply of the country’s state-run power company, making it too wet to burn.
The problem is familiar to South Africans, and it has the potential to be much more than a simple annoyance. Eksom, which supplies 95% of the nation’s electricity, declared its third energy emergency in the last two weeks on Thursday, but this is the first time in six years the country will see rolling blackouts.
A five-day power shortage in 2008 shut down hospital equipment, forced drivers to drive without traffic lights, shut down South Africa’s massive gold and platinum mines, costing the economy billions of dollars and ultimately leading to a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating. The government knew about the potential for shortages years before 2008, according to The Guardian, but it still hasn’t found a way to prevent them from happening. Read more…
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Read more : South Africa Suffers Widespread Blackouts — Again
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