Iran Press/ Africa: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday declared a national "state of disaster" over his country's crippling power shortages, saying they posed an existential threat to the economy and social fabric.
"We are in the grip of a profound energy crisis," Ramaphosa said in his annual State of the Nation Address to parliament.
"The crisis has progressively evolved to affect every part of society. We must act to lessen the impact of the crisis on farmers, on small businesses, on our water infrastructure and our transport network."
As a result, Ramaphosa’s governing African National Congress is facing the wrath of South Africans in national elections next year, as factories grind to a halt, crops wither without irrigation and food rots in refrigerators.
State electricity utility Eskom is implementing the worst rolling blackouts on record, leaving households in the dark, disrupting manufacturing and hurting businesses of all sizes. 219
