South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to deal with his country's worsening power blackouts.
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Ramaphosa's office announced in a statement late Sunday.?
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He had been scheduled to lead a delegation from South Africa to the Swiss resort town to promote the country as an investment destination.
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But public outrage over the electricity crisis has forced him to hold urgent meetings at home.
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The state-owned power utility Eskom is currently implementing a high level of power blackouts, with households and businesses going without electricity for up to 10 hours daily until further notice.
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Compulsory maintenance, the breakdown of generating units at its aging power stations, and years of corruption have been blamed for Eskom's failure to meet electricity demand.
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Ramaphosa will meet with leaders of opposition parties, the National Energy Crisis Committee, and the Eskom board, presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said.
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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 power utility's failure to provide a reliable supply.
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South Africa is looking to add additional electricity capacity through emergency procurement of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, but that is unlikely to happen in the short term.