Word: erwin
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...unprecedented unplanned power outages must now be treated as a national electricity emergency situation that has to be addressed with urgent, vigorous and coordinated actions," Public Enterprise Minister Alec Erwin told a press conference. "We are viewing the next two years as being critical...
...Erwin's timetable was clearly shaped by the fact that South Africa hosts soccer's World Cup, in 2010. Organizers expect the tournament to attract more than 300,000 visitors. But the South African Tourism Services Association said hopes of a tourist influx, already jeopardized by South Africa's raging violent crime, were now fading. "Will people come to South Africa to see them if they know they will be going back to hotels and guest houses with no power?" asked Michael Tatalias of the tourism association. "That means no hot meals, no clean laundry, no lights." (The football stadiums...
...been done to boost the electricity supply to keep pace with growing demand. Last December, President Thabo Mbeki acknowledged some of the blame for ignoring a 1998 Eskom report warning of an energy crisis in 10 years. "The president has accepted that this government got its timing wrong," Erwin said on Friday...
...Erwin said energy prices would rise 14-20% in the years ahead to fund new power plants. Eskom, which has embarked on a $42.6 billion expansion program, expects outages to continue until at least 2013. Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said the government was studying the energy-rationing experience of countries such as Brazil and Cuba, and is considering expanding solar power in state institutions. All traffic lights would also be converted so that they are able to take solar power...
...Erwin insisted the World Cup would be unaffected, however. "There is no threat to the successful holding of the event, as plans to ensure electricity security in that period are well advanced," Erwin said. By 2010, there will be a "far more comfortable margin" between supply and demand...