Load shedding: ‘I am gatvol and so are 60 million other South Africans’.

I am bloody tired of load shedding and so is the over 60 million people in South Africa.

The deliberate power cuts by the dark lords at Megawatt Park, the princes of darkness, the givers and takers of light is just so menacing and ugly.

Before the chronic load shedding, we are experiencing for three weeks now, whenever I received a notice from Eskom about the rolling blackouts and broke the story on The Citizen, readers would swarm to read what is happening.

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Now, it is no longer a shock factor and people have become immune and so used to the broken parastatal’s lame and almost weekly rhetoric excuses.  Its becoming a sickening muse that knee jerks South Africans to post their vitriolic comments on social media, “@#$% you Eskom,” some posted.

I #$%$ing hate load shedding and this is why.

Danger

Load shedding creates a perfect atmosphere for dangerous criminals to pounce.

On Friday, load shedding in Lenasia South kicked in at midnight and was supposed to end at 2am. However, the power never came back and City Power was still investigating as it claimed. I saw reports that criminals may have stolen the cables and this will probably take some time to repair.

Let us not forget the many homes, businesses that have become vulnerable to break-ins and robberies because the invertors and generators can last just so long.

This cable theft has created a catalyst to other bigger problems.

Cellphone signal

With no power in the area, cellphone towers cannot carry a signal, which means no messages, no calls or urgent notifications. It also means no work.

I was fortunate to swop my Saturday night shift with a colleague because it would have become literally impossible to file stories from home and that would mean me driving to the newsroom, which is not a problem, as long as the work gets done.

The lack of signal also creates a hazardous situation where if there is an emergency, the best you can do is run to your neighbours and ask for help.

Rotten food

Food in the fridge can last just so long, if the power outage is more than the anticipated time. Besides that, you cannot have a cup of coffee or brekkie and have to drive to an area where there is power and go to restaurant spending a wad of cash for the early morning meal for you and your family.

That is just breakfast, what about lunch and supper? It all adds up and you just got paid this week and this expense was not budgeted for.

Reckless drivers

Load shedding is a nightmare for motorists, robots not working and everybody wants to get to their destination as quick as possible.

Sadly, people drive like maniacs putting others in danger and while they can’t be blamed for wanting to go first at a four-way robot when they were not first at the intersection, there must be sense of responsibility so that people can arrive alive and the next annual road death do not reflect fatalities as a result of load shedding.

People who are sick

The biggest and worst impact are on those who are sick, particularly those who are receiving home care and are on oxygenators.  It will be heartbreaking to see someone lose their life because the equipment they use cannot be powered.

It is a relief though that some hospitals have been exempt from load shedding and perhaps you can go there.

Pets

Pets are who are dear to their owners are as much a casualty in this whole load shedding bull#$%6. I really feel for people who have expensive aquariums with exotic fish which costs thousands of rands.

These hobbies are the pride and joy of their owners.

Some say that watching fish swim in an aquarium brings a sense of calm and serenity when you have a long tiring day.

So much more

This op-ed could go on forever, but I had to cut it short because my laptops battery was gasping for battery life and I could have performed defibration on the gadget, but there was no power. Sorry neh.

Last week, president Cyril Ramaphosa dealt South Africans a blow below the belt when he warned in his weekly newsletter load shedding was here to stay, adding that while there is no quick fix for the deliberate power cuts, “real progress is being made.”

Many South Africans do not believe that “real progress” is being made and even the Eskom board shake-up by Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan is not enough to convince them that the lights will not be deliberately cut while they are in the midst of boiling water for the first cup of coffee after waking up at 4am.

Broken promises?

President Ramaphosa, Minister Gordhan and the Princes of Eskom, stop making promises and switch the lights on because South Africans are gatvol, they are tired.

Their equipment is getting blown at home, they cannot work, they are feeling unsafe and they cannot even eat in their own homes. Is this the better life for all South African that we were promised?

As Judge Clark Brown said in the legal drama Boston Legal, “this is shocking, outrageous”. Stop with the excuses, do not be a “nansy pansy” and just get the bloody work done, switch the lights so that we can turn up a smile even if it is the jokers from Batman, afterall the dark knight only comes out an night.

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