During his 2023 State of the Nation Address, President Cyril Ramaphosa described South Africa’s energy crisis as an “existential threat to our economy and social fabric”, and promptly went on to declare a national state of disaster to respond to this debilitating situation.
To the surprise of many, he also announced the appointment of a Minister of Electricity in the Presidency.
The term “existential threat” is generally understood to mean that which threatens one’s very existence, survival, or future, and has been commonly used in the context of climate change and nuclear warfare.
More recently, Russian President Vladimir Putin cast the Ukraine War, which he regards as an inevitable
