Image via: Adobe Stock
Image via: Adobe Stock
South Africans have been stuck with load shedding for 14 years now. In that time, the world has changed rapidly around us, with only the dependable incompetency of Eskom deciding to remain the same. It’s hard to remember a time where we didn’t live in fear of rolling blackouts, tutting at our phone screens as the latest notification comes through…
When was South Africa’s first load shedding?
The first time the power went out due to grid constraints / the fear of overloading a weakened system was in October 2007. A University of Cape Town (UCT) study found that Eskom was trying to operate with one-quarter of its generational units offline. Supermarkets struggled to function, and failing traffic lights in bustling city centres wreaked havoc.
These incidents occurred, on and off, into 2008. That same study also confirmed one person ‘died on an operating table’ when the lights went out during the summer season. By January, the term ‘load shedding’ had entered the South African lexicon, and every scheduled outage was now given an infamous moniker.
How the start of load shedding affected South Africa
This was about the time when South Africa was crippled by Black Monday – the toughest schedule of load shedding seen during the early days. Gold and platinum mines were forced to halt their operations on Monday 25 January 2008, leading to a five-day suspension of all activity. Needless to say, the industry was left battered and bruised.
A report by the National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) estimated that load shedding between October 2007 to February 2008 cost the country’s economy an eye-watering R50 billion. This, in the genesis of Eskom’s struggles to provide power, put Mzansi on a very dark path for the years ahead.
Why can’t South Africa keep the lights on?
Quite simply, Eskom’s generational capacity was exceeded by demand and growth in South Africa. Before the turn of the century, it was forecast in the Energy White Paper that the utility’s energy surplus would run out ‘by 2007’. Despite having prior warning, the ANC government did nothing to increase the supply – prompting an apology from Thabo Mbeki.
Then-president of SA, Mbeki said his Cabinet would take ‘collective responsibility’ for their failures. Now, 14 years down the line, the issue is very far from fixed – and accountability remains elusive. In a way, our first load shedding is no different from any of our most recent bouts. And the story is likely to repeat itself for years to come.
- Load shedding is currently in place until 5:00 on Thursday 14 October. You can check the schedule here…
