Indefinitely Is Not A Positive Word
Eskom for those of you that don't know is our government run SOE electricity supplier. For the last 15 years we have been experiencing power interruptions commonly known as load shedding. Things have deteriorated gradually over time with the problem now way out of control.
Just like South African Airways who were way overstaffed so much so they had the equivalent for 1 staff member for ever 10 passengers. Gold status is 1 staff member for ever 100 and one of the reasons why the airline couldn't be profitable. The work was being done by the employees that had been replaced and fired then being bought back into play as freelance employees. Most jobs had 2 or 3 people doing the same work, but only one was physically doing the work. I saw this first hand while negotiating a business deal as I never met the person who made the final decision. The person I was dealing with had been working that position for over 10 years and was the front man protecting the other managers with the same job title. Confusing perhaps, but expected as that is what the civil service is like here as no one is accountable.
As you can see from the graph the hours are increasing without having a break. In the past we would get it for a week or two at the most then have a break before it resumed again. This is now 3 weeks on the trot and there is no letting up.
The key take from this is the not so positive word "indefinitely" and sounds as though this is more permanent than temporary. These actions have serious consequences as the country is not investable until there is sufficient power. This according to estimates is more than likely only going to happen in 2026 or 2027. The reason for the known time factor is even if they had the finances from various sources including the World Bank it would take that long to fix. Conversions need to happen to make the power stations more efficient and also have filters in place for the carbon emissions targets they have agreed to.
From my understanding reading between the lines having agreed these carbon emissions whilst nothing has been done. Were they hoping for someone to do this for them or sponsor them? They signed the Paris agreement in September last year which tells me they had no intention of fixing the load shedding issue as they cannot as the upgrades need to happen first.
It is a shame really that no one can tell the truth anymore and you have to work it out for yourself. Tonight our area is on the 6pm -8pm slot and many of the fast food outlets are closed. Businesses need to start adapting as can you carry on by closing your doors for 4 hours per day during working hours? This is what many are doing and my thought is the onus should be on the shopping center to provide back up power or find a center that will provide this service.
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