The dark side of load-shedding: 'It's affected my mental health'

02 February 2023 - 15:41
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Forget load-shedding, Florence Mguyana says she's been without electricity for two years.
Forget load-shedding, Florence Mguyana says she's been without electricity for two years.
Image: Orrin Singh

Paul Ngubane (not his real name) cast a lonely figure as he isolated himself from a crowd gathered outside Eskom’s headquarters in Sunninghill in Johannesburg on Thursday.

While about 200 protesters chanted peacefully in support of the #StandUpSA march to Megawatt Park to hand over a memorandum of demands to the ailing power utility’s management, the 31-year-old accountant quietly observed from a distance.

“A lot of people don’t notice it but it’s affecting our mental health. When the lights go off I just lie down and sleep, wasting away — and that’s not how life is supposed to be. It’s not the right way to become a productive member of society. It has really taken a toll on my mental state,” he said.

But Florence Mguyana, 58,  was not there to complain about load-shedding. She was there to gripe about the fact that she hadn’t had electricity for two years.

The mother of five from Finetown, south of Johannesburg, said: “We have raised these issues with our councillor but nothing has happened.”

She said Johannesburg’s harsh winters had been hard for her family.

"We have to make a fire to boil water, to cook, to get warm. What sort of life is this? But what can we do, we carry on and live.”

She said she hoped the organisers of Thursday’s march could assist her and her community.

Lehlohonolo Masango, 37, highlighted the plight of jobseekers.

Lehlohonolo Masango, 37
Lehlohonolo Masango, 37
Image: Orrin Singh/TimesLIVE

He said load-shedding had placed him and millions of other South Africans at a disadvantage.

"When the power is off we can’t search for jobs online. We can’t even educate ourselves. Without internet or television how are we supposed to research and get and understanding about things?”

Able le Roux, 47, said his livelihood had been affected.

Able le Roux, 47.
Able le Roux, 47.
Image: Orrin Singh/TimesLIVE

"I work from home as a real estate agent. When the power goes off the cellphone towers are affected and I can’t get reception. I can’t make calls, use the internet or my laptop, basically the tools that allow me to work.

"My job is directly affected, especially when we are in stage 6 and the power is off for up to four hours at a time.”

The memorandum of 28 demands that #StandUpSA handed to Eskom management included that:

  • A reliable supply of electricity be delivered to households and businesses and be implemented equitably.
  • Alternative means of generating power be found.
  • There should be no surcharge or tariffs for solar users, and solar power installations must be tax deductible.
  • The 18% increase in tariff be scrapped.
  • Outstanding debts from citizens, municipalities and businesses that are not paying (improved debt collection) be collected
  • Customer bills reflect deduction of load-shedded hours.
  • Communication of an accurate plan to get to zero load-shedding, with timelines, milestones, and regular stakeholder engagements.
  • The names of service providers or creditors and the amounts owed to them and repayment timelines be published.
  • A maintenance plan and weekly updates on the progress of maintenance work at power stations be published.
  • Suppliers who sell sub-par coal to Eskom have their contracts terminated immediately and they be blacklisted permanently.

TimesLIVE

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