Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM), by the South African government and people of the Republic of South Africa in terms of the Electricity Act (1922). South Africa became a republic in the 1960s. Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the largest producer of electricity in Africa, and was among the top utilities in the world in terms of generation capacity and sales, but has since slipped in both categories. It is the largest of South Africa's state owned enterprises. Eskom operates a number of notable power stations, including Matimba Power Station and Medupi Power Station in Lephalale, Kusile Power Station in Witbank, Kendal Power Station, and Koeberg Nuclear Power Station in the Western Cape Province, the only nuclear power plant in Africa.
Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa is a South African businessman and politician who, since 2018, has served as the fifth democratically elected president of South Africa, as well as president of the African National Congress (ANC) since 2017. Previously an anti-apartheid activist, trade union leader and businessman, Ramaphosa served as secretary general to ANC President Nelson Mandela, deputy president to President Jacob Zuma, and chairman of the National Planning Commission from 2014 to 2018.
Local government in South Africa consists of municipalities of various types. The largest metropolitan areas are governed by metropolitan municipalities, while the rest of the country is divided into counties called district municipalities, each of which consists of several boroughs called local municipalities. Since the boundary reform at the time of the municipal election of 3 August 2016 there are eight metropolitan municipalities, 44 district municipalities and 205 local municipalities.
Tito Titus Mboweni is a South African politician who served as Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa from 2018 to 2021.
Knowledge Malusi Nkanyezi Gigaba is a South African politician who served as Minister of Home Affairs of the Republic of South Africa appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa from 27 February 2018 until his resignation on 13 November 2018. He also held the post from 25 May 2014 to 31 March 2017 as appointed by former President Jacob Zuma. He previously served as Deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Minister of Public Enterprises and Minister of Finance in the government of South Africa. He is currently a member of the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress.
Crime in South Africa includes all violent and non-violent crimes that take place in the country of South Africa, or otherwise within its jurisdiction. Crime levels have been attributed to poverty, problems with delivery of public services, and wealth disparity. The Institute for Security Studies also highlighted factors beyond poverty and inequality, particularly social stress from uncaring environments in early childhood and subsequent lack of guardianship. South Africa's high crime rates, recidivism and overburdened criminal justice system have been described as a crisis which will require a radical rethink of crime and punishment in young people.
Medupi Power Station is a dry-cooled coal-fired power station built by Eskom near Lephalale in Limpopo province, South Africa. The name chosen for the station, Medupi, is a Sepedi word which means "gentle rain". With an installed capacity of 4,764 MW, when fully operational it should be the 8th largest coal-fired power station in the world.
Solar power in South Africa includes photovoltaics (PV) as well as concentrated solar power (CSP). In 2016, South Africa had 1,329 MW of installed solar power capacity. Installed capacity is expected to reach 8,400 MW by 2030.
Kusile Power Station in South Africa is a coal-fired power plant under construction by state electricity utility Eskom.
Herman Samtseu Philip Mashaba is a South African politician, entrepreneur and the current president of ActionSA, a party he launched on 29 August 2020. He served as the Mayor of Johannesburg from 2016 to 2019. He is the founder of the hair product company Black Like Me. He is famous in South Africa for his background: he grew up struggling against poverty and the apartheid government to open his own hair business, which became the biggest hair brand in South Africa, making him a millionaire. He publicly backed Mmusi Maimane in the Democratic Alliance leadership race. He wrote the autobiography Black Like You and recently he wrote his new memoir "The accidental mayor". Mashaba is a libertarian and "capitalist crusader" whose highest value is "individual freedom."
The Gupta family is a wealthy Indian-origin family with business interests in South Africa, whose most notable members are brothers Ajay, Atul, and Rajesh "Tony" Gupta—as well as Atul's nephews Varun, and US-based Ashish and Amol. The family owns a business empire spanning computer equipment, media, and mining. The family became synomous with corruption in South Africa and has been sanctioned by multiple countries for their activities.
Brian Molefe is a South African businessman. He was previously a political activist and politician.
In South Africa the Department of Public Enterprises is the shareholder representative of the South African Government with oversight responsibility for state-owned enterprises in key sectors. Some companies are not directly controlled by the Department of Public Enterprises, but by various other departments.
Magdalena Franciszka "Magda" Wierzycka is a Polish-South African billionaire businesswoman. She is the co-founder and CEO of Sygnia Ltd, a financial services company. She is the richest woman in South Africa, and is also known for her anti-corruption activism. In 2020, the magazine Forbes listed her among "Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women".
Jabu Mabuza was a South African businessman and investor. He was chairman of the Eskom board.
Bosasa is a South African company specialising in providing services to government, most notably prison services. It is controversial for its involvement in corruption allegations exposed during the Zondo Commission of Inquiry. It consists of BOSASA Group, BOSASA Youth Development Centres, and African Global Operations.
The South African Energy Crisis is an ongoing period when South Africa experiences widespread rolling blackouts as supply falls behind demand, threatening to destabilize the national grid. It began in the later months of 2007 and continues to this day. The government-owned national power utility and primary power generator, Eskom, and various parliamentarians attributed these rolling-blackouts to insufficient generation capacity. With a reserve margin estimated at 8% or below, such "load shedding" is implemented whenever generating units are taken offline for maintenance, repairs or re-fueling. According to Eskom and government officials, the solution requires the construction of additional power stations and generators. Corruption and mismanagement of Eskom, most notably during the Jacob Zuma administration, have exacerbated the crisis. Incompetence and neglect by Eskom staff has also contributed to ongoing power supply problems.
The 2021 South African municipal elections were held on 1 November 2021, to elect councils for all district, metropolitan and local municipalities in each of the country's nine provinces. It is the sixth municipal election held in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994, held every five years. The previous municipal elections were held in 2016. On 21 April 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that the elections will be held on Wednesday, 27 October 2021. It had been recommend by Dikgang Moseneke to delay the municipal elections until 2022. The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) requested the Constitutional Court to support the date postponement. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) supported the date postponement while the Democratic Alliance (DA) was against the postponement of the date. The Constitutional Court dismissed the application to postpone the date until 2022, ruling that they had to take place between 27 October and 1 November. On 9 September 2021, the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma announced that the elections would be held on 1 November.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission, is a public inquiry established in January 2018 by former President Jacob Zuma to investigate allegations of state capture, corruption, and fraud in the public sector in South Africa. By December 2020, the commission had interviewed 278 witnesses and collected 159,109 pages and one exabyte of data as evidence. After receiving five extensions, the commission is expected to finalise its report by the end of December 2021, with an official deadline of 1 January 2022. The first part of the final three-part report was published on 4 January 2022. It has cost the state close to R1 billion, far more than any prior South African judicial inquiry.
Gwen Sinethemba Amanda Ngwenya, is a South African academic, politician and Head of Policy for the opposition Democratic Alliance. As a Member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance in the Fifth Parliament, she served on the Standing Committee on Finance. She has also served as COO of the South African Institute of Race Relations, Africa's largest classically liberal think tank.
