South Africa is facing massive blackouts due to its agreement to be a "guinea pig" for the West's green transition and close its coal-fired power stations, according to South Africa's electricity minister, Kgosientsho Ramokgopa. Ramokgopa attacked the country's £6.6 billion climate finance pact, which would see some of the world's richest nations pay for South Africa to produce more renewable energy and shutter coal-using power stations. The deal is touted as a template for other nations to follow in an international effort to cut global greenhouse gas emissions.
The closure of the Komati power station, the first to be shut, was seen as an injustice unfolding in the name of the transition. Eskom, the state power company, is struggling to ease power cuts due to the closure. The country has spent nearly a year enduring severe outages virtually every day due to a lack of generating capacity and frequent breakdowns in decrepit power stations. The resulting economic damage has put intense political pressure on the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party, which has presided over the decline in the once-respected energy system.
Party officials fear blame for the cuts will dent their showing in the polls, which could be the first to see the ANC lose the absolute majority it has held since the end of apartheid. Ramokgopa, who has been tasked with ending the blackouts, said if he had the choice, he would restart the Komati power plant. He also echoed comments by South Africa's energy minister, Gwede Mantashe, that developed economies were using African economies as "guinea pigs" for energy transition.
