“Amid the prospect of regular load shedding in South Africa over the next few years, BusinessTech asked the country’s big banks how they’re set up to handle your finances when the lights to go out.
According to the power utility, it will take 20 to 30 months to work through its maintenance backlog; meanwhile the much-delayed Medupi and Kusile power projects are only set to be fully operational in 2018 and 2019, respectively.
The country’s power situation remains extremely volatile, and load-shedding looks likely to stay.
Worryingly, Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona has warned that one unexpected event at any of its power stations could potentially result in a total failure of the national electricity system. A failure which may take weeks to resolve.
In the event of such a nation-wide blackout, President Jacob Zuma and his cabinet will be taken to a secret location and soldiers will be deployed to protect the SABC and other key points.
SA mobile operators have already weighed in on how they would cope during a blackout – but what systems do South Africa’s banks have in place to keep their systems running?”
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