Ramaphosa skips Davos to join the rest of South Africa in the dark

To cope with the domestic national power issue, President Cyril Ramaphosa has opted to forego the international World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

Vincent Magwenya, the President’s spokesman, announced in a tweet on January 15, 2023: “Due to the ongoing energy crisis, President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his working visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Currently, the President is convening a meeting with leaders of political parties represented in parliament, NECCOM and the Eskom board.”

“Ramaphosa has already engaged with the leadership of Eskom and the National Energy Crisis Committee (NECCOM), and those meetings will continue. More briefing sessions to key stakeholders will take place during this coming week,”  Magwenya added.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) is a non-profit organisation based in Davos, Switzerland that convenes political leaders, corporate executives, and academics to debate major global issues.

It is most renowned for its annual conference in Davos, where world leaders convene to debate urgent global challenges. The meeting is set to begin on January 16 and go through January 20.

Ramaphosa has previously been accused of leaving the nation during load shedding. As public outrage grew in the latter part of last year, Ramaphosa flew back to South Africa after ending presidential discussions with US President Joe Biden.

Attending the WEF summit allows South Africa to showcase itself as a desirable location for international direct investment. Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana will be among the South African delegation.

In a pre-WEF meeting with local business leaders on 13 January, Godognwana stated that South Africa had a lot to offer the international business community, even with load shedding.

Godongwana stated that specific measures might be implemented to improve the business climate and promote international business ties.

He did note that “an unstable electricity supply remains one of the biggest barriers to economic growth, and it disturbs the lives of all South Africans.”

“Ending blackouts and solving the energy crisis remains among the government’s top priorities,” said the minister.

South Africa has entered stage 6 load shedding, increasing the frequency and duration of rolling blackouts, affecting economic growth and prompting citizen dissatisfaction.

According to BNP Paribas, the country’s energy insecurity will deteriorate, impeding economic development, with power outages reaching 200 days in 2023. According to Intellidex analyst Peter Attard Montalto, load shedding might reach stage 7 or higher by the middle of the year.