South Africa says power crisis won't affect 2010 projects

South Africa's power crisis will not threaten infrastructure projects under way for the 2010 Soccer World Cup, Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said on Wednesday.
"We have on a number of occasions assured South Africans that we will work hard to minimise the impact of the electricity emergency on investments. We have also indicated that 2010 projects are not under threat," Sonjica said in a speech prepared for delivery to parliament.
South Africa's electricity crisis has raised investor concern about the economy in the run-up to the Soccer World Cup that the country will host in 2010. State power utility Eskom is struggling to meet demand and power woes forced the mining industry to close down for five days last month, sending precious metal prices to record highs and hurting the rand currency.
But Sonjica said the government had moved to secure power supplies for cities hosting the matches in 2010. "We have treated 2010 as a special project in terms of ensuring ... security of supply for hosting cities," she said.
President Thabo Mbeki and other senior officials have blamed the country's booming economy for increasing demand for electricity, while acknowledging that warnings of an impending power shortage went unheeded for years. Eskom plans to spend 300 million rand ($38.74 million) over the next five years to increase generating capacity.
The power crisis have darkened millions of homes, forced businesses to shut and caused gridlock in many cities as traffic lights went dark. But Sonjica said on Wednesday that businesses in the country had pledged 500 million rand to help expand a solar-powered traffic light project aimed at reducing energy consumption.
"There have been financial pledges from a number of private sector companies to assist and fund some of the identified intersections," Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said in a speech prepared for parliament.
"At the moment, a total of 500 million rand has been pledged from the private sector companies to assist in this programme, and this will help us fast track the project throughout the country over the next three years," Sonjica said.
She said the pledged funds were in addition to 100 million rand that her department, in partnership with the National Energy Efficiency Agency, will invest in the first year to refit traffic lights at major intersections throughout the country.