In light of rolling blackouts, reports that State-owned power utility Eskom is facing financial problems, and following the recent meeting of the Energy Minister with representatives of the Energy Intensive User Group, the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Sacci) has called on its members to submit any proposals that they believe may alleviate the situation.

Sacci president Vusi Khumalo said the chamber was “gravely concerned with the parlous situation in which Eskom finds itself”, as load shedding had “inestimable” impacts on business, business confidence and consumers.

This sentiment was shared by government, with media reports earlier this week having quoted Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene as calling on Eskom to “sort out its problems”, as the electricity supply issues were hurting the economy.

The power utility has, since November, occasionally resorted to implementing load shedding.

Khumalo said “concerted and unified action” was needed to deal with the country’s electricity challenges.

For this reason, Sacci would, through its membership, work with Eskom to find workable solutions to the problems. Eskom and Sacci would jointly consider the proposed solutions.

On Monday, Eskom said the power system was expected to be extremely constrained this week, as businesses and schools reopened.