South Africa declares 'State of Disaster' over electricity crisis

Tags: International News

Recently South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a "state of disaster" due to the country's power crisis during his annual State of the Nation address in Cape Town.

An overview of the news

• This follows just 10 months after the Covid-induced "State of Disaster" was lifted.

• South Africa is currently facing several crises, including issues such as power crisis, unemployment, increase in crime and violence.

• The electricity supply company in the country for almost 10 years has become financially weak amid large-scale looting and corruption, due to which the power crisis has arisen.

• The President announced that a Minister of Power would be appointed to deal with the matter more effectively and promptly.

• The new minister will assume overall responsibility for overseeing all aspects of the power crisis response, including the National Energy Crisis Committee.

South Africa

• President: Cyril Ramaphosa

• Capitals: Cape Town (Legislative), Pretoria (Executive), Bloemfontein (Judicial)

• Currency : Rand