During his speech to more than 1,000 delegates at the South Africa Investment Conference, the President acknowledged that investor confidence in the country 'has been tested' by rolling blackouts and the government's inability to ease the crisis over the past 16 years.

President Cyril Ramaphosa urged international and domestic investors to continue backing South Africa and his new target of raising investments worth R2-trillion over the next five years despite a persisting power crisis that stifles the economy, dents confidence in the country and undermines investment levels.

Ramaphosa faced an uphill battle in convincing investors to pour new investments into the country as his administration has overseen power cuts that have become part of daily life, rampant crime and corruption, and failures in South Africa's rail and port operations. South Africa is also seen by the world as a haven for money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes after the country was recently greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force.

Ramaphosa opened the last leg of his investment conference on Thursday, a day when many parts of South Africa were thrown into a deeper level of blackouts (Stage 6). Ramaphosa addressed delegates in Sandton, speaking about his plans to ease the electricity crisis, while the swanky business district was plunged into four hours of load shedding.

The conference had a delayed start, with some delegates complaining about traffic congestion in Sandton, mostly caused by traffic lights that were off (again, due...