MORE than half of South African taxpayers want to vote the governing party out of power in next year’s elections because of rolling blackouts, a survey shows.
An online poll of almost 1,500 adults last month found that 65% of middle-income earners are seriously considering not voting for the African National Congress (ANC) in next year’s general elections, according to a BrandMapp-Silverstone report published on the website of Cape Town-based consultancy WhyFive.
Africa’s most industrialized economy has been subjected to rolling blackouts, known locally as load shedding, since 2008 because state power utility Eskom has been unable to meet demand from its old and poorly maintained plants.
The daily outages are costing the country as much as R899 million per day and hobbling economic growth, with output only expected to increase 0.3% this year, according to the central bank.
“Taxpayers of South Africa are being pushed to the limits, not
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