This country's president is skipping Davos. Why? Power cuts up to 11 hours

Cyril Ramaphosa: Amid the blackouts, authorities have announced that the prices of electricity will be increased by almost a third over the next two years.

South Africa's president Cyril Ramaphosa has cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland as the country faces an unprecedented energy crisis owing to which there have been daily power cuts of between eight and 11 hours across the country. Tens and thousands of small businesses, offices, hospitals and factories were forced to close amid outages in the country.

Cyril Ramaphosa: South Africa president Cyril Ramaphosa is seen. (Reuters)

In Johannesburg, massive protests were also seen as demonstrators blocked roads and burned tyres. South Africa’s power generation utility Eskom apologised to consumers saying that they did not know when would electricity be restored. Old and largely coal-fuelled power stations, lack of skilled staff and corruption have been blamed for the current crisis.

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Cyril Ramaphosa's spokesperson accepted that there was "frustration of households, parents and learners who have commenced the school calendar year facing power shortages” adding that the president would not attend the Davos summit. He would instead focus on resolving the energy crisis instead, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, amid the blackouts, authorities have announced that the prices of electricity will be increased by almost a third over the next two years which also prompted opposition politicians to call for protests.

“It’s time to hit the streets SA! Far too many citizens are barely able to keep their heads above water. This … increase is like a government jackboot pushing more of us under the surface,” John Steenhuisen, the leader of the centre-right Democratic Alliance, tweeted.