South Africa’s ANC takes a free market turn
Fortunately our problems in the U.S. aren’t as severe, but the same economic logic applies.
“For years, South Africa’s rolling electricity blackouts were a symbol of the country’s dysfunction and decay. But this month President Cyril Ramaphosa delivered an upbeat message in his annual address: South Africa has gone 300 days without an extended power outage. The reason? Ramaphosa and his African National Congress (ANC) party finally dropped their socialist-inspired aversion to markets and unleashed the country’s private sector to keep the lights on.
The reforms seem like common sense in retrospect. The South African government in 2023 lifted a long-standing cap on how many megawatts private businesses could generate. That led to a rush of private businesses setting up their own power sources — mostly using solar, wind and batteries. Shopping malls and private factories suddenly could rely on their own power sources. That immediately eased the burden on Eskom, the country’s corruption-plagued electricity monopoly.”
