We have a family routine when the lights go out: One person will check the neighbourhood WhatsApp group to make sure we aren’t alone in the dark, while another grabs the matches and candles.
It is a habit ingrained in us by years of rolling blackouts, and one we often sleepwalk through.
Frequent, scheduled load shedding ended a year ago, but the scars are still there for everyone to see. Like the Covid-19 lockdown, it altered our way of life, heightened our fears and anxieties, and left us with PTSD.
And while power utility Eskom’s winter forecast predicts no load shedding, we are reminded of it every time bad weather or cable theft plunges us back into darkness. Because, while the systematic outages of previous years have officially gone, collapsed infrastructure means we can never really escape the fear that the light may turn off at any time.
City Power and other utilities work hard to steady the grid through maintenance, such as the major shutdown that has hit Joburg this week, but the lingering question is whether they and the local government are doing enough.
It was made worse when Eskom this week threatened to reduce and cut power to some parts of Joburg over a R5.2 billion debt.
The paranoia from constant outages and failed service delivery means trust in most government entities is on the floor, and is made worse with every report of misconduct, corruption, state prosecutors not showing up to court, empty taps, and extinguished lightbulbs.
Joburg mayor Dada Morero, after facing the long-known reality that his city is pretty much broke, went on the offensive this week to clean up the city, enforce bylaws, and cut services to those who owe millions. While these blitzes have been common in recent months, they are ramped up whenever Morero or his government is under fire.
Residents in the city centre will tell you they are grateful for the intervention, but they also know that once the cameras are gone and the blue lights of the mayor’s convoy have stopped illuminating the streets, life will continue as before.
Filth and exploitation are a daily struggle, with many resigned to a life of decay when they were promised dignity.
They cannot even look up for leadership when, as we saw this week, corruption-accused city managers returned to their posts, and officials earn more than R44 million annually but don’t even have the required qualifications.
Another pandemic on the way?
While we seem to have been spared further trauma of a widespread Hantavirus outbreak, Ebola looms as a threat. It may be localised to the DRC and Uganda for now, but the World Health Organisation raised the alarm this week about the scale and speed of its spread.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, the DRC is among the highest countries of origin for asylum seekers and refugees in South Africa, with more than 46 000 people from the DRC applying for protection in South Africa in 2024, up from 42 000 in 2023.
When so many people from the region are crossing into our borders, we should be on high alert. We may have world-class labs and scientists, but none of that means anything if vigilance, surveillance, and contact tracing have been as poor as the government has shown over the last decade.
So, whether it is another pandemic or a substation trip on the horizon, many of us know we will be left alone in the dark, with government not even able to hold a candle.
