I was stunned to hear on the radio the other day that Eskom is very proud that other countries are contacting it to find out how to deal with a shortage of electricity supply and to learn more about load shedding.  It is somewhat embarrassing that we are now the experts on load shedding and I would suggest that those countries, before trying to learn how to fix the problem, once it has arrived, learn how to plan for the future and make sure that they don’t have a problem.  Of course, it is also Eskom’s way of trying to put a positive spin on everything – rather than discuss how bad the planning has been, how disastrous the foreseeable future is, let’s talk about how other countries feel that we are doing very well with the completely inadequate supply of power.  

What is more frightening is the continued references that they make about load shedding being needed to prevent a national blackout and that load shedding being far better than a national blackout.  I get the impression that if we do have a national blackout and we reach this catastrophic state, it is not as easy as flicking a switch back on.  There seems to be outright fear from the CEO to the spokesperson whenever they talk about the possibility of a national blackout, and the very fact that they bring it up so often means that it cannot be a totally remote possibility.  It is almost as if, when it does happen one day, they can say that this is what they have always warned about and then possibly blame some Municipalities for not implementing load shedding for long enough.  I cannot see any other reason why they continually advise us that there is something worse than load shedding.