Is this the beginning of the end? I was in total shock when I heard that Eskom has told mines in South Africa to shutdown their mines for between two and six weeks. This all in an effort to conserve the little power that South Africa currently has. Businesses of all sizes have been suffering over the last couple of weeks in South Africa due to the continued power cuts. Now the mining sector which is a huge contributor to the South African economy is now also starting to be hit hard. Eskom’s reasoning is that they can not guarantee power to the mines and do not want to run the risk of the mines having a power cut when miners are down in the mines.

The power problems in South Africa are now reaching vast proportions and this could single the start of a really tough spell in the South African economy. If mines can not operate that means no gold, platinum and other minerals are being produced and thus a serious loss in productivity and profits for the mines. And one must not forget that the likely hood is that, the miners still have to be paid even during the shutdown of the mines, now think how this will affect the mines profits if wages have to be paid but no production is taking place?

I hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel as this is not looking good at all. It is so easy for an economy to crumble overnight and these power problems are edging South Africa even closer to a catastrophic point.