I wasn't around, or had time available, to post up on this. The black outs have been worsening since September last year - but they have ramped up in frequency during the period I wasn't here.

They even made up the piffle word "Load shedding" instead of calling it power failures or black-out.

Eskom most likely knew all along. They were warned by lots of people, seven years ago, that at current growth rates it would take seven years to the moment power demand would outstrip Eskom's capacity. People also noted in passing its aging electricity infrastructure. Nothing dramatic happened, and we're seven years later.

Having said that, the focus I'd like to write about is energy conservation - South Africa is providing the world's best real-life test how a wasteful (and I can't describe in one sentence how dreadfully wasteful it is) society will deal with the concept of conservation, also pushed by Eskom.