DUBLIN — Now that the elections are over, many South Africans are worried that the lights may go out again. After vicious load shedding earlier this year, the power has been a bit more stable lately. Some cynics think that this is because the ruling party, desperate to seem on top of things ahead of the election, pulled out all the stops to keep the turbines turning, no matter what the cost in terms of wear and tear on Eskom’s struggling plants. Now that the votes are, for better or worse, in the ballot box, we may have to pay the piper with fresh power outages. Luckily, as this article argues, South Africans have managed to find some upside in the dark. Obviously, finding a solution to the country’s ongoing electricity crisis and the scandal of Eskom is essential to the future economic success of SA. But it’s nice to think that, if the power does go off again, at least Saffers are good at using lemons to make lemonade. PS Make sure you read the correction at the end of this one (it looks like the WSJ didn’t quite get the joke!) – Felicity Duncan

‘Chill, Chat, Eat.’ The secret to life without power

By Simthandile Ntobela

(The Wall Street Journal) JOHANNESBURG – Africa’s most developed economy can’t manage to keep its lights on, but South Africans are trying to see the bright side anyway.
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In the weeks leading to national elections on Wednesday, the nation has been enduring the worst blackouts in decades. The rolling power cuts, called load-shedding, occur throughout the day and night and last for hours at a time. They are meant to prevent a collapse of the national electricity grid.

South Africans, ever resourceful, have been adjusting on the fly – and even discovering a few simple pleasures from being unplugged.

Volunteers have been taking turns standing next to powerless traffic lights directing rush-hour traffic. Supermarket shoppers have been loading up on gas stoves, matches and tinned food. Restaurants are offering special load-shedding menus prepared over coals and consumed – romantically – by candlelight.

Lesley Ntjana, who lives in the eastern suburbs of Pretoria, said blackouts are an excuse to go to more communal barbecues. “After work, I go to the nearest in township,” he said. “We chill, chat, eat meat and then I go home to sleep. I don’t even notice when there’s load-shedding.”

Mfundo Tyeli, a 36-year-old businessman in the Cape Town district of Gugulethu, said the glow from people’s backyard barbecue grills, known as braais, is a surefire sign that the power is out.

“There is nothing else to do but to braai,” he said. “If you are walking home and see multiple people taking out their grills, then you know – electricity is gone.”

Many cellphone network towers have limited battery life, which can run out during the longer blackouts. “At least I can avoid unwanted messages on WhatsApp, with a legitimate excuse,” said Dieketseng Tsoai, a resident of Qhimirha village in the Eastern Cape province.

Fiona Cameron-Brown, a 55-year-old hotelier based in the wine lands of Cape Town, offered coping advice on a microblogging site: “Fish out your old landline phones that have a handset connected with a cord and ensure that your stock of candles and matches are close at hand…and drink lots of wine.”

The blackouts are the result of years of mismanagement and corruption at the state-owned utility, Eskom. They are having a huge impact on business and politics across the country, and have become an issue ahead of Wednesday’s national election. South Africa’s government has conceded the outages could go on for years.

A recent meeting between cabinet ministers, the state power utility and journalists was delayed for an hour because of a power outage.

Some blackout-related problems are serious and difficult to work around. Cape Town’s ubiquitous crime is worse after dark. “We have to run home with gangsterism in our area,” said Luvuyo Mkomzile, a resident of the Philippi township in Cape Town. “These boys start misbehaving even more when they don’t see the lights coming on.”

Ace Foxo, a sculptor of bronzes, stresses out over even a hint of a blackout. He needs electricity to smelt and shape metal and is petrified a power outage will strike during a creative blitz or on deadline. He has banned his friends and family from using the words “load-shedding,” he says. “At the mere mention of the phrase, I start looking around for signs of load-shedding – switch my lights on and off, or turn the kettle on to ensure that indeed it works.”

Many South African businesses and consumers, however, have found novel ways to adapt.

A new cellphone app called EskomSePush, which notifies users of coming power outages, has been downloaded more than 1.6 million times. The developers say the app is so popular that its chat function has become a place for people trapped without evening entertainment to meet and arrange load-shedding dates.

“We started with a nerdy app reading data from the state power utility, and somehow it’s been transformed into Tindr,” said Herman Maritz, one of the app’s developers. “We’re still waiting for our first load-shedding wedding.”

Thabo Moagi and others from his community at Cosmo City, a township in the shadow of a power station, see another silver lining. “We can chat around a fire again,” said the 42-year-old owner of a construction business, referring to a neighbourhood bonfire started with wood and old tires.

The community fires are places for neighbors to trade gossip, usually about load-shedding. “I now know that the power station in the next township from ours is manually operated,” Mr. Moagi said. “The Eskom guys are sent there twice a day to switch it on and off again.”

Mr. Tyeli, the Cape Town businessman, owns a gym. When the power goes out, he says, so does the music, so customers have to make their own music as they work out. “We have to rely on 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.”

Corrections & Amplifications

A cellphone app that notifies users of coming power outages in South Africa is called EskomSePush. An earlier version of this article incorrectly gave the app’s name as EskomPushSE. (May 8, 2019)