The Cost of Stalling the Karpowership Project Seems to be Higher Than the Project Itself.

 

The Karpowership project has been blocked for years now and it seems while opposition against it drags on, things keep getting worse and worse in the country. Unemployment keeps going high and GDP keeps dwindling among other things.

For years now the country has been plunged into near total darkness by the incapable Eskom power utility which is unable to generate enough electricity to keep the lights on for 24 hours a day.

Karpowership, an energy company from Turkey that manufactures power ships that produce electricity and feed it into the grid have availed a solution to cover the shortfall in the power that Eskom supplies. Whereas the project has the support of the country’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa and a few other prominent ministers in his cabinet, the Democtratic Alliance is in opposition of it and has called for alternative ways to cover the shortfall. The tender for the project has been rewarded already, however the commencement of power production has been blocked by numerous court challenges lodged by several business parties and environmental groups, as well as unending environmental assessments by the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

The truth is that as much as the project is going to cost South Africa an amount of around R200 billion over a duration of 20 years, there is even a greater cost in the stalling of a final decision on the issue. Beyond the environmental challenges that are raised by those in opposition of the project, economic production keeps on deteriorating and threatens long-term stability. A persistently deteriorating rate of production negatively affects government’s social programs as well as the lives of ordinary South Africans whose opportunity out of life’s miseries can be found in a flourishing economy that is perhaps only a few more kilowatts of electricity away. It goes without saying that the worse that things get in the economy would be the more destitute the lives of struggling South Africans get. It may be argued that South Africa is already a failed state, so imagine if things got worse than they already are.

On the positive side, the interesting thing about money is that if you invest it and take care of the investment, it will make back the money you invested in it and more. Hypothetically speaking, the R200 billion that will be used over the 20-year duration of the Karpowership contract can possibly be returned by the economy before the end of that 20 years if the intended benefits of such an investment are realised. The Democratic Alliance argues that the money can be used to construct two more power stations which will be a better investment compared to the Karpowership project, however, can those power stations be completed well in time to come and help businesses and South Africans with the electricity that they need now? Would it not be a good idea to secure the current shortfall with Karpowership and then work on the side for the creation of extra power stations that will cover supply when the Karpowership contract lapses? On the issue of environmental costs, if other countries such as Brazil, Guinea Bissau, and Zambia among others are doing it then can’t we also quickly find a way to make it work as safely as possible before things get worse?

At the end of the day, if the country can get extra power injected into the grid, that will be a big win for all races and ethnicities regardless of political affiliation, ideology, or religion.