BioniKat to the Rescue

 WHAT IS LOAD SHEDDING!?

Load shedding happens when there is not enough electricity available to meet the demand of all customers, and an electricity (public) utility will interrupt the energy supply to certain areas. It is a last resort to balance electricity supply and demand.

For the past several weeks and a lot of times previously, we have had to suffer through load shedding. When there is not enough electricity for everyone at the same time, suburbs take turns to be off to relieve the pressure on the grid.

This past week we started off on Stage 2 which means 2 outages of 2.5 hours each a day and then it was upped to Stage 4 which means 3 outages of 2.5 hours per day. Today was downgraded to Stage 3 with a return to Stage 2 expected from 5am tomorrow.

For me this has meant trying to get through traffic jams when the power is off from 8am until 10.30am and get to work as close as possible to starting time. And then repeat going home through the 4pm until 6.30pm outage. 

During this latest loadshedding started, the fuel price was increased by ZAR1.21 for petrol and ZAR 1.48 for diesel and sitting in traffic for hours on end is hell on the fuel consumption of all vehicles.

Years ago, I drove an older model vehicle which was pretty reliable but overheated at the drop of a hat. Yesterday, as I stopped at the local convenience store, an older model car pulled in beside me and as the driver turned off the motor, there was a bang followed by a loud hiss and a cloud of steam emanating from under his vehicle's bonnet (hood). His poor old car could not stand the strain of sitting in stop/start traffic and there are many casualties of the traffic jams coupled with the hot weather as we move from spring into summer. Many cars are parked on the side of the roads unable to continue any longer. 

Patience is not only a virtue, it is a necessity under these circumstances. We continue and accept our fate while hoping the electricity supply will stabilise and life return to normal.

People are tired at this time of year, tempers fray and patience is in short supply. Everybody is just longing for the end of the year and a break from traffic and work.