SA’s electricity woes are caused by ourselves

Power to the people… This battle cry from the dark days of apartheid has taken on a new meaning in load shedding times.

Yes, I know generators and solar lighting and gas stoves make life easier during our far too regular power outages, but they do not take all the pain away.

The 50km between work and home usually takes me 45 minutes – I’m not a racing driver on public roads.

Last night it took more than two hours, thanks to traffic jams and the odd accident at traffic lights which did not work because of load shedding.

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When I got home, the place was cold and unpleasant. I couldn’t even make a cup of coffee to get some heat into my ageing bones.

Of course, TV and my computer weren’t options. I went to bed. The next morning things were much better. Until load shedding.

Spare a thought for our millions of less fortunate fellow South Africans who don’t even have the luxury of occasional electricity.

They go to bed early every evening because they don’t have lighting and heating.

They don’t drive more than 45 minutes from work because of load shedding – they don’t have jobs. But let’s not allow our empathy to cloud our thinking.

Our electricity woes are caused by ourselves.

Eskom said in a statement our stage 6 load shedding of the past week is due to the continued unprotected strike at the power utility, as well as high levels of staff absenteeism and intimidation of working employees.

This has made it difficult to conduct routine maintenance and other operational requirements.

Which international company will invest in a country where the citizens sabotage their own power supply?

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Any clear-thinking manufacturer will much rather send their money to one of the dozens of other investor-friendly developing economies in Africa, the East or South America.

How do we think we are going to revitalise our economy and create jobs if we force Eskom workers to stay away from work? Will the state provide?

Surprise, surprise – the state doesn’t have money.

Never had – the small change they have, is provided by the shrinking group of tax payers and that fountain is quickly drying up.

To give the people power, we need power. And fast.