This is unironically how some South African electricity contractors currently operate lol. They'll literally cut down powerlines to secure tenders to replace them.
No, it's usually split, the electricity goes off for two to four hours at a time, usually during peak hours but sometimes at night or in the morning as well.
So usually two four hour periods a day of the power out, and one two hour period, that becomes a four hour period if you're unlucky
Does South Africa still use coal and oil as its main source of energy? So what is happening, lack of investment and the energy grids are breaking down?
Yes we use coal because we have a lot of it. And because Gwede Mantashe, the minister of mineral resources and energy, is in deep with the coal industry. I think he'd marry a block of coal if he could.
The crisis is due to multiple things. It starts with neoliberal reforms by Thabo Mbeki in the 2000s, he ignored reports by the state run electricity company (Eskom) that they needed funds to do maintenance and build new power infrastructure. Thus the first round of rolling electricity blackouts in the late 2000s. From there on its been a lack of maintenance, running equipment over the limits in a short term push to keep the lights on, trying to buy a ton of diesel to fire up massive generators, using low quality coal witch messed up equipment, sabotage by Eskom employees and other contractors (such as cutting powerlines down just so they can fix them, but with regards to all power infrastructure), and blatant corruption and theft. Apparently 1 billon rand goes missing every month at Eskom.
There's been big drama as the Eskom CEO resigned with a no holds barred interview blowing the lid on all the shenanigans at Eskom after someone tried to poison him. While he has been a massive failure as CEO, this has earned him some good will, especially among the upper class. There is also the fact that he's a white guy, so he gets more credibility amongst the white middle and upper class.
This is unironically how some South African electricity contractors currently operate lol. They'll literally cut down powerlines to secure tenders to replace them.
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I wouldn't bank on it. More likely they're replacing durable cables with shitty patch-jobs.
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We only have 12 hours of electricity a day I'm not banking on them doing a good job...
12 hours in a row? same 12 hours?
No, it's usually split, the electricity goes off for two to four hours at a time, usually during peak hours but sometimes at night or in the morning as well.
So usually two four hour periods a day of the power out, and one two hour period, that becomes a four hour period if you're unlucky
Does South Africa still use coal and oil as its main source of energy? So what is happening, lack of investment and the energy grids are breaking down?
Yes we use coal because we have a lot of it. And because Gwede Mantashe, the minister of mineral resources and energy, is in deep with the coal industry. I think he'd marry a block of coal if he could.
The crisis is due to multiple things. It starts with neoliberal reforms by Thabo Mbeki in the 2000s, he ignored reports by the state run electricity company (Eskom) that they needed funds to do maintenance and build new power infrastructure. Thus the first round of rolling electricity blackouts in the late 2000s. From there on its been a lack of maintenance, running equipment over the limits in a short term push to keep the lights on, trying to buy a ton of diesel to fire up massive generators, using low quality coal witch messed up equipment, sabotage by Eskom employees and other contractors (such as cutting powerlines down just so they can fix them, but with regards to all power infrastructure), and blatant corruption and theft. Apparently 1 billon rand goes missing every month at Eskom.
There's been big drama as the Eskom CEO resigned with a no holds barred interview blowing the lid on all the shenanigans at Eskom after someone tried to poison him. While he has been a massive failure as CEO, this has earned him some good will, especially among the upper class. There is also the fact that he's a white guy, so he gets more credibility amongst the white middle and upper class.