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Kganyago Urges Fiscal Caution, Ramokgopa Outlines Bleak Outlook For Power Crisis

SOUTH AFRICA
  • SARB Governor Lesetja Kganyago called on the government to muster up the courage to make unpopular choices and refrain from spending it cannot afford. The official told Business Day that "we cannot have enough of everything and there are trade-offs to be made and those trade-offs will be difficult." His plea comes as the ruling African National Congress is preparing for the 2024 election and faces an incentive to roll out support measures to boost its performance.
  • Eskom this morning said that it will extend Stage 6 load-shedding indefinitely due to failures of generating units at Tutuka, Kriel, Duvha and Kendal power stations. Meanwhile, Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa said that the outlook for electricity supply "looks really bleak because demand is going to increase exponentially" into the winter season. The EWN reports that the projections put forward by Ramokgopa before the Cabinet this week showed that under the most pessimistic scenario South Africa could experience Stage 8 load-shedding and lose 800,000 jobs this winter season.
  • Deputy President Paul Mashatile told the upper house that the government plans to tighten regulations around coalitions to make them more sustainable following the collapse of multiple alliances at the local and regional level. The official criticised the horse-trading involved in forming political coalitions, noting that the process is driven by interests and personal ambition rather than common goals and ideology. He argued that the resultant instability affects the delivery of essential services.

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