Good news, South Africa! If Eskom doesn’t sort out their sh*t ASAP, we could be cooking the chicken and gravy on the Weber.

We are now experiencing stage three blackouts, which is Eskom’s most serious level.

The supplier’s electricity-generating infrastructure has been hit hard by a number of issues including depleted water reserves and logistical issues relating to diesel supplies at power stations, and the shutdown of two open-cycle gas turbine power stations which use diesel to generate electricity.

Also, another three “coal-powered units tripped on Thursday because of technical faults”. Rad.

Khulu Phasiwe, a spokesman for Eskom, has said the Eskom is “working around the clock on emergency maintenance and repairs to infrastructure”.

Whilst this situation is dire, it has still not reached the level that California experienced in 2001, when their grid collapsed. It took three weeks of blackouts (and a state of emergency) to get everything back to normal. Luckily, Cali had other states that could supply them, whereas South Africa has practically no one – we get a minimal amount from Namibia and Moçambique.

Eskom has also said that it is not their fault that there is a diesel shortage, as they are waiting on PetroSA and Chevron.

I guess this means solar powered Christmas tree lights and candles.

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