South Africa's Energy Crisis

[Erna]

About 2 weeks ago South Africans were informed that ESKOM (Electricity Supply Commission) who is responsible for all of South Africa's electricity needs could no longer supply the entire country with electricity.

Since then they started doing load shedding, which means that they switch of the electricity in certain areas in order to be able to supply other areas with electricity. This can last anything from 3 hours to 8 hours daily, and the whole country in effected by it (mostly metropolitan areas).

When Elton John performed here a week ago, his entire show had to be done on massive generators. All the gold and platinum mines were shut down today for the first time in 60 years. Remember that we are one of the largest gold and platinum producers worldwide. If your money is in Gold trading shares, you were smiling today, the value climbed with $50.

The government informed municipalities that no new power will be allowed on the current grid, therefor all new housing developments will stop. The load shedding happens without any prior warning, so you can't plan for it. The one moment all is fine, the next moment the entire city is in darkness.

The government were enformed about the problem in the mid nineties, but did nothing about it. To build a new power plant will take 7 years, so the problem doesn't have a short term solution. Our first speed train (Gautrain is it's name, derived from the name of the province Gauteng + train) which was planned to be completed for the 2010 World Cup Soccer which we are hosting, will no longer meet the deadline.

The Rand dropped 1.3% against the $.

What's the situation like on the ground...chaos. Traffic is a nightmare. People phone the radio stations to tell them they have only managed to make 200m progess in half an hour. The radio presenters tells us they're sitting by candle light. When we're at the office and the power goes off, everyone goes home. I'd hate to know what it's doing to the economy.

Crime is on the increase, because people's alarm systems are off. Surgeons are not allowed to perform operations on back up power, they can only finish it on back up power (this I heard from a colleague who's father in law is a surgeon), so all operations are postponed. Mother's can't sterilize their babies' bottles.

All in all, just one major disaster. On the upside, we have barbeque every night.

 

[Telperion]

wow that sounds pretty hectic. I was thinking though (this is kind of tangential to the original post but still Africa related) that if there is a climate crisis in Europe within the next 50 years, Africa would become prime real estate. And with people dropping like flies over there from war, AIDS, malaria and other preventable diseases the Europeans won't have to worry too much about placating unruly natives.

 

[NormaRegula]

...The government informed municipalities that no new power will be allowed on the current grid, therefor all new housing developments will stop. The load shedding happens without any prior warning, so you can't plan for it. The one moment all is fine, the next moment the entire city is in darkness.

The government were enformed about the problem in the mid nineties, but did nothing about it. To build a new power plant will take 7 years, so the problem doesn't have a short term solution. Our first speed train (Gautrain is it's name, derived from the name of the province Gauteng + train) which was planned to be completed for the 2010 World Cup Soccer which we are hosting, will no longer meet the deadline.

For the past few years, California's energy suppliers have had these rolling black-outs. Usually, Californians are given a rough date and/or time via mail or an announcement from the Governor's office. There's talk of even more of this "inconvenience" for the upcoming summer months. (The reasons are varied and vague. No real solution has been offered that I'm aware of...and, yes, CA officials knew this would be a problem before the mid-nineties.) Given that housing development is one of California's finest ponzi schemes to most local municipalities due to developer fees, there is currently no stoppage on building...even with real estate plummeting due to the subprime mortgage failures and other factors.

It's danged annoying...not nearly as serious as your situation...but then I pause to consider the possible near future when most areas may not have any power forthcoming due to natural...and/or contrived...events.

 

[Erna]

but then I pause to consider the possible near future when most areas may not have any power forthcoming due to natural...and/or contrived...events.

The human race have survived long enough without electricity (up to fairly recently), but of course there weren't more than 6 billion of us on the planet...

 

[Miss Isness]

I have to wonder if it's just a scheme to manipulate the public. Why? Because the mafia did exactly the same thing with water in Italy. First came the warnings, then the rationing, then privatization and massive rate increases. I'm happy to say that 6 public officials have recently been arrested for fraud, corruption, and abuse of public office related to the whole scam. There has been a huge public outcry and numerous class action suits. Instead of paying their water bills, people have put money into city council accounts to signify their willingness to pay when, and only when the legal process is complete. It's been about three years so far.

 

[Erna]

We are entering the rationing stage now 8|

Geasers must be turned of at 6:00 etc. etc. Don't really know how thay plan on monitoring it...

 

[NormaRegula]

The human race have survived long enough without electricity (up to fairly recently), but of course there weren't more than 6 billion of us on the planet...

Perhaps this will be one of the shocks to nudge people awake. Without electricity...even for short periods of time...to give comfort and run all those distracting TV sets, gadgets, video games, etc., people will have to find other ways of getting things done. This involves using their brains more and networking (ie: physical social contact) with other individuals to help solve the problem.

I have to wonder if it's just a scheme to manipulate the public. Why? Because the mafia did exactly the same thing with water in Italy. First came the warnings, then the rationing, then privatization and massive rate increases.

This sort of game is sickening. Frustrating, too, when the public goes along with it because they are conditioned to suffer and/or don't want to get involved.

I'm happy to say that 6 public officials have recently been arrested for fraud, corruption, and abuse of public office related to the whole scam. There has been a huge public outcry and numerous class action suits. Instead of paying their water bills, people have put money into city council accounts to signify their willingness to pay when, and only when the legal process is complete. It's been about three years so far.

There must have been a breaking point in your neck of the woods. The pathocrats (in this case, they happen to be mafia) squeeze and attempt to totally control what should be a public resource, not realizing they can only go so far before people begin to realize they aren't going to take it anymore. Three years, huh? Has it gotten to the point wherein the public is so angry and intent on justice that they are no longer intimidated by power, threats, etc. coming from the perpetrators?

 

[Miss Isness]

Norma Regula wrote:
There must have been a breaking point in your neck of the woods. The pathocrats (in this case, they happen to be mafia) squeeze and attempt to totally control what should be a public resource, not realizing they can only go so far before people begin to realize they aren't going to take it anymore. Three years, huh? Has it gotten to the point wherein the public is so angry and intent on justice that they are no longer intimidated by power, threats, etc. coming from the perpetrators?

How can you threaten each individual that uses a public utility like water? Of course, there have been leaders of the movement that could have been threatened, but again, there were many and a lot of them had plenty of access to publicity like Beppe Grillo. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to follow each step of the process, and it isn't a success yet, but I think what has made it work so far is a functioning legal system, and a well informed, organized, and united public. Incidentally, the two pivotal Justice Dept. people behind the arrests were both women.

I think the other thing that contributed is that the mafia just got too brazen. They did all sorts of illegal things and didn't even cover their tracks. They also over billed numerous people and never admitted fault, and their rate scheme was so arbitrary that it was clearly unjustified. So, apparently there was enough documentation to get the Guardia di Finanza involved, and once that happened there was no turning back. They've been getting away with the same thing in Sicily for who knows how long, so I guess they thought they were beyond the law. We'll soon find out if they're right. The next hearing is in late February last time I heard.

 

[NormaRegula]

How can you threaten each individual that uses a public utility like water? Of course, there have been leaders of the movement that could have been threatened, but again, there were many and a lot of them had plenty of access to publicity like Beppe Grillo.

Should have clarified that...It's usually the leaders who stand up to corruption, lies, and rally the public to do something about it who are usually threatened and intimidated by those in power.

Regarding water in my neck of the woods, residents are already experiencing escalating water rates that our local government tells us will help curtail wasteful water use. While this sounds good (less water use means lower bills, conservation, etc.) on the surface, the politicians neglected to properly inform the public of exorbitant water/sewer rate increases (lawsuits have been filed) and appear to be doing the bidding of powerful developers (more building despite a prior successful judgement against development due to a water shortage/sewer quota that was ignored.) The politicos are using the excuse that more residents are "conserving" water, so it's okay to build more for future residents, along with a proposed massive casino resort complex located near an environmentally sensitive water shed.

On the hopeful side, more residents are starting to take out those ridiculous lush green, water-eating, chemically-treated lawns, and conserve water. They are also starting to grumble about their water bills still going up. Some are even beginning to realize that all of this is only benefitting the real estate ponzi scheme that has run the local government for a couple of decades...and is not solving the real problem. And, yes, some local leaders have been intimidated by the local PTB. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to faze them.