South Africa's Neighbors to Help With Power

408 days until the start of the 2010 World Cup ...

Today, South Africa's bordering neighbors said they will help make sure there will be enough electricity for next year's World Cup.

The Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) met in Mozambique to discuss how the region can ensure South Africa does not suffer power cuts during the event.

The World Cup hosts were crippled by power cuts in January last year.

Eleven countries agreed to reduce pressure on the regional grid during the 2010 tournament.

They will encourage manufacturers to slow production during peak evening periods for the games. They also agreed to boost energy efficiency and maximize power plant production during the events.

"We are delighted with the level of co-operation we are receiving from our SAPP counterparts," Eskom Project 2010 unit managing director Johnny Dladla said.

"This initiative confirms that the 2010 FIFA World Cup is truly and indeed an African event."

In addition to South Africa, the power pool includes Angola, Botswana, DR Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

South Africa was hit early last year by rolling power cuts as Eskom failed to meet increasing demand for electricity.

In November last year, the company signed a US$500 million dollar loan with the African Development Bank to aid its expansion program.

A 4,800 megawatt coal-powered power plant, which would be the fourth-largest in the world, is already under construction but won't be operational until 2012.

MY POV: That's all nice and dandy. How about South Africa help out their northern neighbors Zimbabwe with their human rights struggle under dictator Robert Mugabe?

Now THAT would make this a truly African World Cup ...