In order to stem the profound electricity crisis that is undermining the daily life and economy of the continent's leading industrial power, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a state of national disaster on Thursday, February 9, 2023.

The country lacks electricity and is rationing it by imposing scheduled outages, leading 60 million South Africans are forced to cook, wash their clothes, and recharge their phones at certain times of the day only, from months. These outages lasted up to nearly 12 hours on some days, as the shortage worsened since last year. Last week the ANC said it had given “clear instructions” and called on the government to adopt certain provisions.