South Africa calls for disaster over energy crisis Emirates announces “milestone” – sustainable flying is another step closer

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a state of emergency for his country due to a massive energy crisis. In his annual State of the Union address on Thursday before parliament in Cape Town, the president also announced his intention to appoint a minister of energy. This should solve the country’s energy problems as quickly as possible. The disaster allows the government to free up additional resources from its budget to fight the energy crisis. The government had already taken a similar approach to combating the coronavirus.

Large-scale power failures have been known in South Africa for over 15 years. In recent months, however, the energy crisis has come to a head. Some of South Africa’s 60 million people live without electricity for up to ten hours a day. The state energy producer Eskom, which is responsible for 95 percent of the electricity supply, is accused of corruption and mismanagement. Eskom has a debt of no less than 21 billion euros. The power plants and infrastructure are outdated and poorly maintained.

Ramaphosa announced that an independent body would review the allocation of the new funds to prevent misappropriation. (sda/dpa)