Today has been a shocker when it comes to having the basics like electricity as since midnight last night we have had no less than 5 outages with the longest lasting for just on 4 hours. We are scheduled to be cut off again at midnight which is just diabolical to even consider.
Many shops close their doors during the power cuts as not all shopping centers have generators. A few of the bigger retailers have back up power, but many don't including banks. This ATM is off line as many places comes to a stand still.
When your utilities are falling apart then the country has major problems as this has a direct impact on the economy. Not only the economy but the confidence of the people in that country takes a knock as the belief that one day things might improve is knocked out of them. In South Africa we have had power cuts or load shedding for 15 years now having started in 2007. To be dealing with an issue for 15 years smacks of failure all round.
Today was so bad I had to call it quits on the generator as I budget for 4 hours a day on fuel. I used double that today and still ran dry and refused to go and buy more as there has to be a limit at some point.
One has to remember we are not in winter and are experiencing warm weather currently so there is no extra strain on the system. The power utility is maxed out and the only way to get around this is to cut power at regular intervals so a normal life can be lived if you call that normal. These days a 2 hour planned power cut is the normal that is bearable at best, but then you get to experience extreme days like today more and more frequently. The last of having unplanned outages was only 3 days ago which not only affected the residential area I live in, but the family business which had to send staff home early.
This is just an example of what life is like here now and if you are lucky the power is switched on without delays once the power outage is over. This just feels so surreal now that it isn't happening and it is a bad dream, but this is as real as it gets.
Notice the dates on the repairs and maintenance being undertaken at the various power stations around the country and this does not fill you with confidence. Dates yet to be determined for the ones already offline and they have only been recently taken off line. This is 15 years of digging your hole deeper and not being able to get back out. Sadly Medupi 4 never even got going as they blew that one up by not following the start up procedures and shows a lack of technical knowledge and these are the ones controlling the country's grid.
What doesn't make financial sense is it is reportedly costing the economy R1 Billion per stage in load shedding lost per day. We are on stage 4 so R4 billion today so 3 days of this equates to the figure the power utility ahs spent on diesel. that is a drop in the ocean considering what the country is losing weekly.
Heaven help us as this is expected to continue for a few more years yet with estimates saying 2026/27 if they receive all the funding required. This won't happen as we are talking $400 Billion plus to fix the problem out right.