But Eskom are fighting back – with facts (allegedly).
Tuesday, 28 May 2024: Eskom has noted with concern the fake news trending on social media regarding loadshedding resuming on 30 May 2024. Loadshedding has been suspended for 62 consecutive days and continues to be suspended.
The previous Power Alert issued by Eskom was on 24 May 2024, where Eskom announced the continued suspension of loadshedding.
Our generation availability continues to perform well as a result of the Generation Recovery Plan that commenced in March 2023, as well as our intensive planned maintenance. Unplanned outages are averaging at 12 500MW, below what was anticipated for our winter outlook.The energy availability factor (EAF) of four of our power stations is performing above 70%. Our year-to-date EAF is improving gradually and is currently at 60.73%.
Eskom will provide regular updates and the next update will be on Friday, 31 May 2024.
I might not be in Mauritius, but I can’t really complain about the autumnal weather in Cape Town right now. Sure, it’s looking a bit iffy towards the end of the week, but in typical Cape Town autumn style, it’s hot in the sun, cold in the shade and (since I’m kind of between the two) actually very pleasant here right now. Apparently, it’s raining in Mauritius.
Yep. The nice weather here means that I’m taking the opportunity to sit outside and write this blog post before I get on with parental duties this afternoon. And it’s worth noting that I was absolved of those this lunchtime as the Boy Wonder drove himself and his sister home from school.
I’ve still got my noise-cancelling earbuds in because there’s a lot of local building and leaf-blower action again today. And I am wondering what those building and leaf-blowing individuals have in store for tomorrow, which is – lest we forget – a public holiday.
Wednesday, 29 May 2024 marks the country’s seventh democratic election. To ensure that South Africans have sufficient time to make their way to the polls to have their vote counted, President Cyril Ramaphosa has declared a special public holiday.
Government calls all eligible voters especially young people to go out in numbers to vote on that day, as the active participation of all eligible voters is central to strengthening our democracy. Your vote gives you the power to change or improve things and allows you to choose who will represent the interests of your community.
Yeah, I mean that second paragraph was obviously written whilst wearing rose-tinted spectacles. Because whoever you vote for, the government always gets in.
Anyway, I plan not to get up too early, so I’m hoping that they will all be taking a well-deserved day off.
The Regulations issued in terms of section 17 (1) of the National Building Regulations and Building Standards Act 103 of 1977, prohibit the use of machinery, engines, apparatus, tools or contrivance which may cause a disturbance to the neighbourhood –
on a public holiday or Sunday;
before 06:00 or after 17:00 on any Saturday; and
before 06:00 or after 18:00 on any day other than those days above.
These are strict timelines which can be enforced by engaging the relevant law enforcement authorities.
I’m not planning on making a fuss, but I would appreciate them not making a noise either.
This one might go better, because out of all of the candidates that will be standing in all of those elections – only one man seems to have the right idea about delivering a solid, vote-winning policy:
For too long, political parties have happily stood by and watched as crime was legal. No-one has done anything about it.
Careful now, says Nick Delehanty. Down with this sort of thing.
It’s about time that someone raised their head above the parapet and stood for what’s right. Nick Delehanty has done that. Make Crime Illegal.
I’m not sure how many votes he got last time around, but with policies like this, on June 7th I can certainly see those numbers Dublin.
“You’re on social media, 6000. Aren’t you outraged?”
I am getting a lot of people asking if I am upset over the DA TV advert which in which they – and I hope you’re sitting down for this – depicted the SA flag being burned.
Well, they actually depicted a poorly-done CGI SA flag being burned. But same same, right?
Here’s the ad. I hope you’re ready.
Well, no. I’m not outraged, and I’m not outraged for many reasons.
First off, I don’t tend to get outraged about things anymore. You get to a stage in life when you realise that the energy you spend on being outraged is completely wasted. And the earlier you reach that stage in your life, the happier you will be. Sure, get irritated, annoyed, maybe even tinker with being briefly furious. But then drop it. Because expending more effort than that – especially publicly – on something you can’t change, makes you look like a buffoon. So much bluster, so little outcome.
Of course, it’s really easy to be outraged on social media, where we can all hide behind our profile pictures and pseudonyms and tell people how what they must think. But that’s even more pointless. Honestly, who is really going to listen to some nasty words formed from pixels?
And right there is the second reason. This isn’t a burning flag. It’s just some pixels. And if you’re willing to say that those pixels are the same thing as burning a real flag, then you should really be able to understand that the “burning flag” (pixels) here is merely a metaphor for the state of the country should the ANC go into a coalition with the EFF and the MK after the election. Is it an accurate metaphor? I don’t know, but that’s actually immaterial. The DA feel that it’s an accurate way to describe the consequences of that alliance, and this is their advert. And whether or not the advert is accurate or crap is also immaterial. The outrage here isn’t over the words or the sentiment. It’s all about the “burning flag”.
What it has done is fanned the flames (no pun intended) of the electoral fire (no pun intended). Has it influenced anyone either way? Probably very few. But probably also both ways. If it was meant to get people to watch it, it’s worked. If it was meant to rile the ANC, it’s also worked.
That statement by Zizi Kodwa, Minster for Sports, Arts and Culture, there. You may recognise him from such news stories as:
But oh no… someone did a nasty thing to the flag. Well, some pixels that looked like the flag.
How convenient.
Thirdly(?), It’s interesting to note that while there are several laws pertaining to the illegality of corruption in public office, there doesn’t appear to be anything saying whether you can or can’t burn the flag (which the DA didn’t do, anyway). Here’s Government Notice No. 510 of 8th June 2001 (Gazette no 22356) (catchy title, catchy contents):
The fourth thing is that outrage on social media is hugely selective. Polarised along racial, political, national, sports team or whatever other lines. Any opportunity to bash the other side is gleefully taken. People readily jump onto the bandwagon: there is comfort in numbers and camaraderie. There is admiration to be earned in being one of the people that was outraged at this or that thing that happened. But outrage is often also hypocritical. I’ve seen 100x more posts and tweets from people upset with the “burning flag” ad than I have over the actual footage of a government minister driving past shacks in his Mercedes G-Wagon, throwing ANC t-shirts onto the floor for poor people to pick up.
But do a bit of editing with a video of a flame and a CGI flag in Microsoft Moviemaker and… ah Jesus…
Of course, above all else, we should always remember that social media is not real life. Much as Jessica’s life isn’t one constant beach holiday, no matter what her Facebook feed might suggest, nor is anyone going to grab their torches and pitchforks and head to the DA HQ over this.
Well, I say that. They might, but if they do, much like the letter above, it will all be as a cunning stunt by one of the other allegedly outraged parties to try and score some points.
I guess what I am saying here is not to rush to be outraged by anything – especially in this election season. They’re absolutely out to get your emotions and people are falling for it every single time. You have nothing tangible to gain, and so much energy and effort to lose. Rather focus on the bigger picture and don’t be distracted. Look at the facts, examine the manifestos, check out the track records and consider the alternatives.
But don’t lose sleep over some pixels in an advert. Really.
The impending World War is a bit tiresome. I do hope that it’s not going to affect our football team weekend away towards the end of the month. That would really be adding insult to injury. Imagine society crashing down around us and you didn’t even get the chance to share a few beers with your mates at what looks like a really decent place in the Klein Karoo before it all kicked off.
Tired of the politics in this country. The iffy polices and the usual pre-election promises and lies. Yes, yes, I know that they’re the same thing. Tired of the polarised viewpoints and the unjustified ad hominem attacks on social media. Weary at the people who think that what’s happening on twitter bears any relation to the situation in the real world.
And, related: HOW HAVE WE SUDDENLY GOT SO MUCH ELECTRICITY? Sure, no loadshedding is great and all, but at what cost is this pre-election “normality” coming? Something unsustainable is happening. More on that in a future post. Maybe.
Tired of – and a bit bewildered at – this sort of stunt from local news site (the) Daily Maverick:
I recognise the need for journalism, and I recognise the need for a strong and independent media, but 1) Is that really what they are?, and 2) Is this action a bit OTT and a bit drama llama-y?
Mmm.
Tired of being just being tired. I went to bed ridiculously early yesterday evening, and I slept really well. I just could have done with another few hours. I’m sure you recognise the feeling.
Still did much better than this guy though:
Oh why have all the moonbats come back out of the woodwork recently? Was it the eclipse? So damn exhausting. They’re suddenly everywhere again, including literally shedloads of Americans who think that Cape Town has been washed away by some massive weird tsunami thing that none of us actually in Cape Town, noticed.
And like that guy above whose name was blanked out on this screenshot, but who has clearly risen like Lazarus, if he’s repeatedly had no pulse for 5 minutes at a time. If resurrection is a side effect of the covid vaccine, then I think we need to know.
