SA’s load-shedding nightmare
M Yfamily and I had to travel to South Africa (SA) as my two girls are pursuing their degrees; one is at the University of Pretoria and the other at the University of Johannesburg. We have a relative who lives in Bramly Park around Sandton in Johannesburg. They were very kind and hospitable to my family having looked after my older girls and their mother (my wife) as they went through their university lives. They of course, lived at the residences their universities, but had their Make Lomkhulu and family for some weekends within a short distance to go to for any need.
This has been a long journey and unfortunately, I have observed a steady decline in the quality of life in SA. This is not a great collapse of the SA economy, but a drop in the quality of life. To some extent, it was to be expected that the apartheid regime had concentrated on a few minority groups, but the African National Congress (ANC) has to provide services to every South African regardless of their ethnic group. However, there are basic services, like electricity supply, which should not have been left unattended to the extent that the country is in. Electricity is the backbone of any economy and should never have been allowed to get to the point of load-shedding. We all know how dangerous the city of Johannesburg and surrounding areas like Soweto are in terms of crime. Kindly imagine a total blackout in Soweto at 8pm. All streetlights and security lights including all traffic lights go off at the same time. If a person, including your girl child, happens to have just gotten off a taxi (kombi) from Eswatini, they have to find their way to whichever relative they are going to in total darkness.
Simple tasks frustrating
Simple tasks such as preparing dinner for the family or preparing your child for school in the morning are so difficult in the dark without electricity. The simple task of ironing clothing in the morning is impossible. This is what SA citizens are faced with every day. Everything must be done when there is an electricity opportunity. But in Eswatini, we take electricity for granted. In SA one has had to accept the abnormal as normal. Load-shedding schedules have become a norm. One never knows which stage it will be from day to day. Electricity can be off for up to four hours or more almost daily. The negative effect of load-shedding on businesses is devastating, particularly for small and medium businesses. However, one cannot even begin to imagine the effect on ordinary households. Hard-earned money is spent on buying food that gets spoilt as fridges need reliable electricity continuously. The loss of household productivity has grieved the family greatly, as homes are going for hours without electricity. Small home income-generating projects can’t survive.
Bafana Bafana semifinal blackout
I happened to be in Johannesburg during the biggest game of Bafana Bafana, SA’s national football team, which qualified to play in the Africa Cup of Nations, when there was load-shedding from 8pm to midnight on the very game night and no one could watch the game. Surely one would have thought they could have moved the load-shedding from midnight to 4am or started it at 4pm to end it at 8pm, just for the game. On the very weekend President Cyril Ramaphosa, in his State of the Nation Address, had promised that load-shedding was coming under control, load-shedding moved to stage 6, the worst. It was almost like he was being deliberately embarrassed and shamed.
Many have even alleged that there is sabotage in the Eskom saga. A well-known public figure, Joshua Maponga, recently said that it would appear that certain powerful monopoly capitalist forces want to break up Eskom and buy it. However, instead of doing just that, they want the ordinary South African to suffer first. He wondered why they just didn’t put in their offer and buy it, for goodness’s sake.
Lesson to emaSwati
In Eswatini, we do not know anything about load-shedding. We experience electricity cut-offs for a few minutes or hours during stormy nights and we think we know. We drink water directly from the tap, trusting that it is safe to drink. In many countries in Africa, the way we live and our daily life experiences are blessings. I am reminded of our King Sobhuza II, who once said that emaSwati should travel and see the world, particularly Africa. He said emaSwati will realise that we are doing very well here in Eswatini. He said they would stop complaining and take care of their gardens. I got that experience in my two weeks in SA, a country I had grown up respecting, but I have been left disappointed.
Western powers to dictate terms
We need to do all in our power to ensure that Eswatini never gets to a situation where there is no electricity, and have to resort to load-shedding. SA allowed Western powers to dictate terms on how they can secure their future electricity supply. The rhetoric of clean energy without the support needed to transition has cost SA greatly. The maintenance of power plants has been affected by energy politics as SA tries to please the Western countries. The ANC remains divided as to how they can secure their energy. The radical transformation part of the ANC led by former President Jacob Zuma is looking to the East as seen from his Russian Nuclear power proposal, which was not supported. President Ramaphosa’s faction is looking for answers from Western and European countries that control most of the South African economy. President Ramaphosa’s position on Israel has not helped the situation. More punishment is coming for South Africa. Comment septembereswatini@ gmail.com