When load shedding first became a South African reality in 2008, the notion was shocking – especially when the outage level started approaching Stage 4.
Stages 1 and 2 were bad enough, but 3 and 4 were just too much for us to bear.
Now, in 2023, the idea of being on Stage 3 or 4 is a welcome relief for a country facing regular Stage 6 power cuts, and fast approaching Stage 8.
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In fact, when rumours started to swirl a few years back that some municipalities had what seemed to be secret load shedding schedules up to Stage 8, South Africans were outraged. However, the powers that be said the updated schedule was a ‘just in case’, and that no panic was necessary. But we were not convinced, and rightly so. Today, all of that is history.
History is a very interesting study of time though, and can teach a number of lessons. It also helps show us how far we have come, or how life and people have changed. Take an article published on Friday October 17, 1947, for example. On the front page of Die Transvaler – a newspaper established in 1937, an article on the top right-hand corner stands out with the headline, ‘Stad kom tot stilstand’ (City comes to standstill). The story is so important that the title is even written in caps.
The headline is then followed by two prominent sub-headlines: ‘Kragtoevoer 35 minute onderbreek’, which means ‘Power supply interrupted for 35 minutes’; and ‘Verkeer Swaarste Getref’, which translates to ‘Traffic hardest hit’.
It goes on to tell of “absolute confusion” that occurred the day before as a result of a 35-minute power failure – the longest supply interruption ever – in the city of Johannesburg. The electricity outage was experienced at about 4.50pm and affected factories, traffic lights, hospitals, postal services, and domestic activities.
The article also quoted the general manager of the Johannesburg municipality’s electricity service, JC Frazer, who explained that there was a fault at the power station which lead to a main switch, which controls the whole electrical feed to the area, being damaged. It took 35-minutes to fix the issue, leading to the resulting chaos.
If electrical faults took that long to be repaired today, it would be just as shocking, although for different reasons.
Perhaps this IOL article will be revisited in 20 years’ time, with South Africans wishing they could go back to 2023 when they only had to face eight stages of load shedding. Or, hopefully, it will serve as a reminder of the electrical struggles we had to face – and overcame.
IOL BUSINESS