Darkness Descends on South Africa, Literally

My father called today to confirm this report by the Mail & Guardian, a leading South African daily:
“South Africa was set on Monday to ration electricity in a bid to stem a spiralling crisis… After mounting anger over daily power cuts that have cost business hundreds of millions of rands, the government said it was drawing up plans that could see consumers fined if they exceed set quotas.
Nelisiwe Makubane, Deputy Director General of the Department of Minerals and Energy, said the regulations being worked on with the state power utility Eskom could be implemented within three months. … Meanwhile, Eskom has requested that business cut its energy usage by 10% to 15%, the energy supplier said on Monday.”
Of special interest is the reference, in the article, to a “skills shortage”:
“’While everybody is well aware there is a generation capacity problem at Eskom, [its] ability to fully utilise what … capacity is available is being severely undermined as a result of staff capacity problems,’ DA public enterprises spokesperson Manie van Dyk said in a statement.”
Even if South Africa imports foreigners to design more power stations, local personnel capable of supporting imported technology are in short supply; over the years, the ANC has mandated the appointment of empty suits filled with affirmative-action appointees.
Did I mention that in all my years in the Old South Africa, we never experienced anything remotely like this? But since majority rule came into effect, the electrical grid has been degraded at every level: generation, transmission, and distribution. Pylons and poles are routinely flattened, stolen, and then smelted. “Up to 100 miles of cables may be going missing every year, destined for markets such as China and India where booming economies have created insatiable demand for copper and aluminum,” reports the Telegraph. “The result has been entire suburbs plunged into darkness, thousands of train passengers stranded, and frequent chaos on the roads as traffic lights fail.”
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