The Utility That’s Eating South Africa
Goldman calls Eskom the single biggest risk to the economy.
Fixing Eskom is arguably President Cyril Ramaphosa’s biggest challenge as he attempts to modernize South Africa.
Photographer: Dean Hutton/Bloomberg
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On a dry plain in Limpopo province in 2007, the leaders of South Africa’s monopoly utility broke ground for a huge new power plant. It was named Medupi for “rain that soaks parched lands” in Sepedi, a local language.
Jubilant officials proclaimed that the project would stimulate local growth and relieve the strained grid in a nation where almost 9 million people had no access to power. Then-Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. Chief Executive Jacob Maroga said the station was the first of its kind since the 1980s.