[EXCERPT: read the whole article here. More on the energy crisis in South Africa. -Ed.]

The Central Energy Fund (CEF) has announced a massive drive to install solar-powered traffic lights at critical intersections in South Africa's major cities to combat traffic congestion caused by power cuts.

"This is an urgent intervention to help alleviate the chaos on our roads which results from power outages and which is impacting negatively on the economy of our country," CEF chief executive Mputumi Damane said in a statement on Tuesday.

...

"Right now, commuters are at breaking point," said NEEA [the National Energy Efficiency Agency] acting operations manager Barry Bredenkamp. "Retrofitting robots [traffic lights] to run on solar power is probably the best solution we have to solving the current traffic crisis.

"The test site confirmed that the technology is capable of running the lights on sun power and, crucially, without mishap."

Bredenkamp said the project was about alleviating the energy crisis in a broader context, as traffic congestion also wastes petrol and diesel.

"Quantified in monetary terms, productivity losses, accidents at uncontrolled intersections, and exhaust emissions from stationary motor vehicles all have an adverse effect on the economy," Bredenkamp said.