Blackouts must not happen selectively

We’ve all heard or seen it before. As soon as load shedding kicks in, the complex, neighbourhood or family WhatsApp group lights up.

Karen is first… “We’ve had load shedding three times today already, yet my friend’s brother in the south has never had load shedding … not once.”

Peter takes the bait: “It’s ridiculous … this country is doomed.

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“My brother’s second cousin knows someone on the East Rand that always avoids getting load shedding. Must be a minister or someone important living there.”

What’s worse is once the power comes on, it often is cut moments later and City Power insist their technicians have been dispatched to look into it.

Even when the said problem is finally fixed, your load shedding schedule is not tweaked accordingly.

Jokes aside, the Peters and Karens of this world may have a point if you have a look at a Moneyweb article that says the lights stay on in Bryntirion Estate all the time.

The small suburb in Pretoria houses the president, his deputy and many other ministers.

Lucky them … Citing national security and contractual agreements with customers, the City of Tshwane refused to answer questions about properties it exempts from load shedding, but insisted it adheres to the standard.

Vally Padayachee, advisor to the Association of Municipal Electricity Utilities, insists: “It is very important that we adhere to the standard. If we don’t, the whole power system may collapse.

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“The principles underpinning the standard include that ‘all customers should by default be shed and that users must be treated equitably’.”

Padayachee should know as he played a leading role when the standard was written and adopted.

Our ministers, and president for that matter, should experience some of the same pain we endure on a daily basis.

If they don’t, why on earth would they be in a rush to fix things?