Imagine, the globalist psychopaths are forcing us to use everything electric. What a nightmare scenario South Africans are enduring right now for all of us to see what is in store for us if we continue down this ugly scary cult of Climate Change totalitarian path. My gosh, they're blaming the energy generator breakdowns on thieves stealing the copper and cables. The people in charge sound like a Democrat-run city or state. There is absolutely no excuse for this to be happening. It's on purpose. People can't be this incompetent. Electricity is a vital resource.
From U.S. Energy Information Administration: Electricity is a secondary energy source
Electricity is the flow of electrical power or charge. Electricity is both a basic part of nature and one of the most widely used forms of energy.
The electricity that we use is a secondary energy source because it is produced by converting primary sources of energy such as coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, solar energy, and wind energy, into electrical power. Electricity is also referred to as an energy carrier, which means it can be converted to other forms of energy such as mechanical energy or heat. Primary energy sources are renewable or nonrenewable energy, but the electricity we use is neither renewable nor nonrenewable.
Electricity use has dramatically changed daily life
Despite its great importance in daily life, few people probably stop to think about what life would be like without electricity. Like air and water, people tend to take electricity for granted. However, people use electricity to do many jobs every day—from lighting, heating, and cooling homes to powering televisions and computers.
Before electricity became widely available, about 100 years ago, candles, whale oil lamps, and kerosene lamps provided light; iceboxes kept food cold; and wood-burning or coal-burning stoves provided heat.
Scientists and inventors have worked to decipher the principles of electricity since the 1600s. Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and Nikola Tesla made notable contributions to our understanding and use of electricity.
Benjamin Franklin demonstrated that lightning is electricity. Thomas Edison invented the first long-lasting incandescent light bulb.
Before 1879, direct current (DC) electricity was used in arc lights for outdoor lighting. In the late 1800s, Nikola Tesla pioneered the generation, transmission, and use of alternating current (AC) electricity, which reduced the cost of transmitting electricity over long distances. Tesla's inventions brought electricity into homes to power indoor lighting and into factories to power industrial machines. (emphasis mine)
DW News pubilshed September 24, 2022: Sweeping power outages threaten South African economy. South Africa is in the grip of an electricity shortage. The state power company Eskom recently implemented what it calls Stage Six of power cuts - or load shedding, as it is known locally. But even at Stage Six, many South Africans are without power for up to ten hours a day.
'Load shedding' is a dreaded term in South Africa right now. The power rationing is affecting homes, public services and even businesses - a disaster for Africa's most industrialized economy.
eNCA published January 16, 2023: Power cuts frustrates South Africans.
SABC News published January 31, 2023: Government considers national state of disaster over energy crisis.
Government could declare a state of disaster to resolve the energy crisis.
President Cyril Ramaphosa said this as he closed the ANC NEC Lekgotla yesterday.
He says the work is already under way within government to establish whether the legal requirements of a national state of disaster are met and what specific actions the government would be empowered to undertake.
We are now joined by James Mackay, CEO of the Energy Council of South Africa.
Yahoo News
written by S'thembile Cele
Monday January 30, 2023
South Africa is considering declaring a national state of disaster as record power cuts cripple the economy.
The government is looking into whether the ongoing energy crisis fulfills the legal requirements for the measure, last put in place in March 2020 to manage the Covid-19 pandemic, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in closing remarks at the ruling African National Congress’s strategy meeting on Monday.
“Work is already underway within government to establish whether the legal requirements of a national state of disaster are met and what specific actions we would be empowered to undertake,” he said.
Read more Eskom Latest: Power Outages Roll on; Emergency Package Discussed
Past state of disasters have enabled the fast-tracking of spending and the implementation of certain regulations. In the case of the coronavirus outbreak, for example, it enabled lockdown rules to be enforced and medical supplies to be procured.
The ANC has come under increasing pressure to resolve South Africa’s electricity crisis after more than two decades of indecision, graft and political interference reduced state-owned utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. to a dysfunctional entity reliant on government handouts. The country has suffered 94 consecutive days of rotational blackouts, known locally as loadshedding, often for 10 hours or more a day.
The power cuts are straining the finances of the nation’s biggest cities as the hit on economic growth reduces tax income and maintenance budgets surge because of breakdowns of electricity-distribution equipment.
The central bank cut its forecast for economic growth this year to 0.3%, from 1.1% previously, because of the power outages that it estimates will shave an estimated 2 percentage points off output this year.
“A national state of disaster will enable us to have the instruments necessary to fully implement the challenges that our nation faces,” Ramaphosa said.
CNN News published January 30, 2023: Blackouts killed thousands of his chickens. Hear why this farmer is furious. Last year, South Africa saw power blackouts on more than 200 days. The disruptive energy crisis is putting everyday life as well as the hopes and dreams of millions at risk. CNN's David McKenzie reports
VOA News, Africa
written by Vicky Stark
Thursday January 19, 2023
South Africa’s poultry farmers say they've had to cull almost 10 million chicks because of the country's power crisis. The record blackouts have slowed down production, creating a backlog in processing and no room for the chicks. Farmers' groups warn if the power cuts are not resolved soon, South Africa's longer-term food security could be affected.
South Africa’s struggling state-owned power company, Eskom, this week shortened power cuts that, since December, had forced homes and businesses to go without electricity for up to 10 hours per day.
However, Eskom says the rolling blackouts will continue for at least another year to prevent a total collapse of the grid.
The record power cuts are crippling South Africa’s economy and harming production, including foods.
Izaak Breytenbach, general manager of the South African Poultry Association, said the power crisis means they can’t run slaughterhouses, or abattoirs, on the usual 24-hour schedule.
“When we take chickens into an abattoir there’s a water bath with electric stunner and that is the main approved method of killing the chickens,” he said. “And then in that whole process where we do the cut-up of the chicken, the temperature is controlled in the abattoir.”
Breytenbach says the lack of power to run the machines dropped production by a quarter, creating a backlog and overcrowding on poultry farms.
The association says farmers were forced to cull 10 million chicks in just weeks.
Breytenbach warned if government doesn’t resolve the power shortage soon, the price of chicken will increase even more than last year, when Russia’s war on Ukraine caused feed prices to jump.
“We’ve seen material increase of chicken prices of about 17% in the period 2021 to 2022,” he said.
The drop in production could lead to a chicken shortage in South Africa and job losses in a country with a 33% unemployment rate.
Ensuring food quality and safety
Theo Boshoff, CEO of South Africa’s Agricultural Business Chamber, said the entire food production chain is affected by the power cuts.
“It’s right up and down the value chain,” he said. “If you think about primary agriculture; irrigation especially during this time it’s peak summer. The cold chain is absolutely critical so that’s where the biggest risk lies of course to ensure food quality and safety.”
Boshoff said the chamber is doing a survey to determine the cost to South African agriculture.
He said farmers met on January 13 with Agriculture Minister Thoko Didiza to discuss the problem and request an exemption from power cuts.
“It’s a tough ask in the current climate,” he said. “We don’t have enough generation online currently so if you have an exemption for one sector that means you’ll need to cut from another sector.”
He said the ministry agreed to appoint a task force on the issue and is expected to report back next week.
South Africa’s aging power plants were forced to introduce power cuts since 2008 amid corruption scandals involving the state-owned power company, Eskom.
The shortage worsened in the past two years with Eskom having to cut power more than 200 days in 2022, the most ever in a calendar year.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa this week cancelled his trip to the World Economic Forum in Davos to hold urgent meetings on the blackouts.
Despite the shortage, the government last week announced an 18% power price increase this year but was unable to say when the power cuts will end.
