Editing Economy of South Africa (section)

===Energy===
{{main|Energy in South Africa}}
Scheduled rolling blackouts are a part of daily life. Electricity theft is widespread. [http://www.capetown.gov.za/Media-and-news/Vandalism,%20attacks%20on%20City%20staff%20impact%20service%20to%20residents]
After years of sub-standard maintenance and the South African government's inability to manage strategic resources, the state-owned power supplier [[Eskom]] started experiencing deficiency in capacity in the electrical generating and reticulation infrastructure in 2007. Such lack led to inability to meet the routine demands of industry and consumers, resulting in countrywide [[Rolling blackout#South Africa|rolling blackout]]s.

Initially, the lack of capacity was triggered by a failure at [[Koeberg nuclear power station]], but a general lack of capacity due to increased demand and lack of government planning soon came to light. The supplier and the South African government has been widely criticised for failing to adequately plan for and construct sufficient electrical generating capacity,<ref>[https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/world/africa/31safrica.html "Power Failures Outrage South Africa"] article by [[Barry Bearak]] and [[Celia W. Dugger]] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' 31 January 2008</ref> although ultimately the government has admitted that it was at fault for refusing to approve funding for investment in infrastructure.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7199814.stm|title=S Africa cuts power to neighbours|work=BBC News |date=21 January 2008|access-date=20 April 2008}}</ref>

The margin between national demand and available capacity is still low or negative (particularly in peak hours), and power stations are under strain, such that surges in demand, which are common during winter, or drops in supply, often a result of a lack of coal for power plants, result in another phase of rolling blackouts.<ref>{{cite web |title=Why South Africa's electricity blackouts are set to continue for the next five years |url=https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-electricity-blackouts-are-set-to-continue-for-the-next-five-years-155233 |website=The Conversation |date=30 March 2021}}</ref> The government and Eskom are currently planning new power stations, at cost to the South African consumer. The power utility plans to have 20,000 megawatts of nuclear power in its grid by 2025.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Power_Crisis/0,,2-7-2335_2270747,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080619083035/http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Power_Crisis/0,,2-7-2335_2270747,00.html|archive-date=19 June 2008|title=Eskom reopens 3 power stations|work=[[News24 (website)|News24]]|date=14 February 2008|access-date=14 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-24_2395323|title=Eskom mulls new power stations|publisher=Fin24|date=18 September 2008|access-date=14 May 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921021110/http://www.fin24.com/articles/default/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&ArticleID=1518-24_2395323|archive-date=21 September 2008}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+Total energy consumption in [[Terrawatt-hour|Terrawatt-hours]] (TWh) <ref>{{Cite web |title=Primary energy consumption |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/primary-energy-cons?tab=chart&country=~GHA |website=Our World in Data}}</ref>
!1970
!1980
!1990
!2000
!2010
!2020
!2023
|-
|421 
|{{Increase}}646 
|{{Increase}}1,030 
|{{Increase}}1,185 
|{{Increase}}1,464 
|{{Decrease}}1,393 
|{{Decrease}}1,348 
|-
!
! colspan="6" |Per capita consumption in [[Kilowatt-hour|Kilowatt-hours]] (KWh)<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Energy use per person |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/per-capita-energy-use?showSelectionOnlyInTable=1&country=~KEN |website=Our World in Data}}</ref>
|-
|18,843 
|{{Increase}}21,921 
|{{Increase}}25,821 
|{{Decrease}}25,322 
|{{Increase}}28,271 
|{{Decrease}}23,688 
|{{Decrease}}22,314 
|}