South Africa is desperate for allies, economic allies. The country is failing and the people are suffering. There is international outrage right now misdirected at South Africa for its desire to host the Bric summit with Russia, China, Brazil, and India. The International Criminal Court (ICC) wants to arrest Putin for his war crimes, and President Cyril Ramaphosa is defending his position to invite Putin before the invitations for the event have even gone out. I warned that countries who were previously banned from discussions at the big table would turn to China and Russia for support since the West has abandoned them. “What about Ukraine!” the media cries. Well, what about South Africa? No one comments that the conditions in South Africa are WORSE than in Ukraine during an active war.
South Africa was in a bad spot economically long before COVID. GDP grew by a mere 1% between 2012 and 2021, according to the World Bank. The nation’s entire infrastructure is crumbling, and the power grid is on the verge of complete failure. Blackouts are common, and many blame state-owned power plant Eskom which routinely cuts off the power grid to produce “rolling blackouts” to conserve power. These “rolling blackouts” can last over 12 hours. This affects fuel availability, phone and internet coverage, traffic lights, power to hospitals, etc. It also limits the availability of food and water. Crime is more prevalent during blackouts as there are no cameras or security systems. Rape and crimes against women are disgustingly common. Civil unrest is so prevalent that the president issued a “state of disaster” warning on February 9, long after the situation became irreparable.
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Statistics vary but there are about 82 murders per day in South Africa. The South African Police Service reported 7,555 murders from October to December 2022. As you can see from the chart above, crime is rapidly escalating. People are murdering farmers and anyone with a surplus of food. “Most murders take place in a public place, such as a street or an open field or a parking area – or at the residence of the victim (including places known to the victim or perpetrator),” Business Tech reported. “The Purge” is essentially taking place in South Africa right now.
So what is the world police doing about this situation since they care so much about helpless nations? Nothing. The US government issued a warning that Eskom’s power grid will collapse. They are warning that there will be no water, sewage pumps, or fuel, and the nation will effectively come to a standstill. Eskom said that in the “best case scenario,” it would take 6 to 14 days to restart the power grid. Experts believe it will take longer if they can manage to restore the power at all. “What’s left after a blackout would be what was left after a civil war,” an anonymous source said.
Poverty and the ongoing conflict have destroyed South Africa. The media would like people to believe that the nation is an enemy of the West because it is remaining neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. How exactly is it supposed to offer any aid when its own people are starving? The West even had the audacity to ask South Africa to support the climate change agenda, as if they have access to stable energy. One can only hope that the Bric summit is permitted this year and Xi and Putin can offer aid to South Africa’s people.
The post South Africa’s Power Grid is Failing first appeared on Armstrong Economics.
