South Africa has had an ongoing period of national blackouts due to a rotating electricity supply because there is not enough electricity to meet the demand. Its energy crisis began towards the end of 2007 and continues today.  In 2022, the World Bank deemed South Africa to have the highest inequality in the world in terms of education, employment, land, and wealth. South Africa’s energy crisis only further exacerbates the unequal distribution of resources and access. The current President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, acknowledges that South Africa’s lack of security in energy derives from the country’s heavy reliance on an aging coal infrastructure. However, in November 2022, the World Bank approved $497 million to the Eskom Just Energy Transition Project in South Africa to decommission the current energy system and move towards more renewable energy. What will this energy transition mean for South Africa’s economy? What will this mean for foreign investment in renewable energy? How will this transition impact South Africa’s general socio-economic and political landscape? 

Joining the student-led International Policy Program to highlight the history of South Africa’s democracy, energy, and economy is South African journalist Crystal Orderson. Crystal Orderson has spent two decades reporting on socio-economic issues in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa. More recently, she covered the most significant national election since the fall of apartheid 30 years ago.  She was the first West Africa bureau chief for the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC News, based in Senegal and has managed myriad different newsrooms in the country. Currently reporting for several local and international media outlets, including ARD Germany, Al Jazeera, BBC Radio, and LBC Radio in London, Crystal is also a regular analyst on local media on African politics and has also been involved with several non-governmental organizations, such as the Bulungula Incubator Project, the Cape Town University of Technology and Project Ignite, a school project working with disadvantaged schools in her home city of Cape Town.

Crystal Orderson will be joining us virtually with guests gathering in-person in the IOP Living Room on May 6th, 2024 at 12:00 PM. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian options will be provided.

Monday, May 6, 2024

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. CST

Institute of Politics