By Paul Simao
In an annual state of the nation speech to parliament, Mbeki sought to calm fears among local and foreign investors over the power crisis which last month forced gold and platinum mines to shut down for five days.
"We face an emergency but we can overcome the problems in a relatively short period," Mbeki said.
Tourism authorities have raised fears the power crunch, caused by a failure of electricity generation to keep up with the expansion of Africa's biggest economy, would endanger the staging of the 2010 World Cup.
It was Mbeki's first state of the nation speech since he was toppled from the leadership of the ruling African National Congress in December by his rival Jacob Zuma.
Investors are concerned about a divided power structure in South Africa because of the split, and possible clashes between state president and head of the dominant party.
In his speech, Mbeki said his government would maintain its fiscal policies to support economic growth and he had budgeted 2.3 billion rand ($296 million) for industrial projects.
(Reporting by Paul Simao; Writing by Barry Moody)
