South Africa: Who controls the power?

Perhaps one of the most worrying aspects of last week’s power cuts is the level to which South Africans have come to expect them.

Shops, factories, banks, farmers and even small businesses have invested in generators so they can function when the lights go out – yet again.

This is sensible, but also disturbing, as it speaks of citizens who have accepted that the authorities can no longer be relied on to provide the foundation on which modern society is built: electricity.

Last week’s power failure was the seventh in the past 15 months. The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) investigated six of the blackouts last year and found Eskom guilty of negligence, poor maintenance, inadequate protection systems and breaching its licence conditions at the nuclear power station at Koeberg.

Cape Times