What stage of load shedding is it today? Does it even matter anymore to long-suffering South Africans who have become insulated to the new normal of being powerless?
This week, Eskom once again switched to Stage 6 load shedding – meaning three to four outages for up to eight hours a day.
Nothing new, we went through it in 2022, so it’s more of the same in 2023.
“Seven units tripped ... of which three have returned to service. In addition, the return to service of three other units has been delayed. Unit 1 of Matla Power Station will be shut down to repair a boiler tube leak,” Eskom said.
By now, the explanations have become abstract and inconsequential.
Once again, all we can do is sigh and resign ourselves to our daily dose of darkness.
Citizens no longer get worked up, curse and vent their frustrations on social media like they used to. It’s a waste of “energy”, which evidently is in short supply.
This is the nature of South Africans. We are a resilient people, we know what it is to struggle.
However, we also know how to protest – against poor service delivery, corrupt leadership and racism.
There are times to patiently endure hardship; then there are times to take a stand. The electricity crisis falls under the latter.
We can no longer sit back and allow the government and Eskom to make our people and our economy suffer – and charge us 18.65% extra for it come 1 April. It is a burden that affects each and every one of us.
As individuals and communities, workers and business owners, civil society and political groups (EFF, you too) we must unite and demand that our leaders find solutions urgently.
Even if it means marching to the offices of Eskom, the president and minister of public enterprises. They must be held accountable for the state of our national power utility.
They must provide us with a concrete action plan. Enough talk, pie in the sky proposals, promises, and blame games. If privatisation is the only solution, then make it happen.
And if they cannot do this, they must step down and hand the problem over to those who possess the political will to drag the country out of this mess.
* Taariq Halim is the editor of the Cape Argus newspaper.