South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has canceled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to address worsening power blackouts in his country.
Ramaphosa’s office made the announcement in a statement Sunday night.
He was scheduled to lead a South African delegation to the Swiss resort town to promote the country as an investment destination.
But public outrage over the power crisis has forced him to hold urgent meetings at his home.
State power utility Eskom is currently implementing a high level of power outages, with homes and businesses without power for up to 10 hours a day until further notice.
Mandatory maintenance, the breakdown of generating units at its old power stations and years of corruption have been blamed for Eskom’s failure to meet demand for electricity.
Ramaphosa will meet leaders of opposition parties, the National Energy Crisis Committee and Eskom’s board, presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
Last week, South Africa’s electricity regulator approved an electricity price increase for consumers of more than 18% for this year and a further increase in 2024, despite the utility failing to provide a reliable supply .
South Africa is looking to add additional electricity capacity through emergency procurement of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, but that is unlikely to happen any time soon.
