Download PDF“Have light, when it is dark” Mqondisi; a loadshedding alternative way to have lights on
Eskom declared on 28 June 2022, that due to staff protests, South Africa would alternate between stages 2, 4, and 6. Since then, communities have been facing load-shedding twice or thrice a day. The Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Gwede Mantashe, said Eskom is a public enterprise, and there is nothing he can do about it. Last week, Monday, 01 August 2022, Eskom announced that Stage 2 loadshedding might be implemented at short notice between 16:00 and 23:00 over the following three days due to the shortage of generation capacity.
Mqondisi Mkhwanazi (27) from Johannesburg is a businessman who sells rechargeable bulbs at Bree taxi rank, in Newtown, in response to the major issue which is mainly affecting the working class. The business is moving fast as more people want backup bulbs. Mkhwanazi makes sure to have alternative ways to have lights; whenever there is loadshedding, there are different rechargeable bulbs.
He is excited to contribute to the sustainable solutions for the current challenge of load-shedding. Many people have realised the importance of backup light bulbs. Mkhwanazi said, “The light bulbs can last for 6 to 8 hours, and other bulbs that are rechargeable last for 4 hours, and the price is very affordable for everyone”.
The bulbs are safe for children, unlike candles; therefore, one may leave them in a room with children. Students used the bulbs to study when load shedding was rife, which was helpful when they had exams in June. Due to others now buying from him and reselling the bulbs to their communities, this has now become a source of income for others. He is thankful for the Johannesburg community’s support.
He launched his business after Eskom Spokesperson Sikhonathi Matshantsha said on the news24 that the system would need time to recover, even after the workers return to work. This also contributed to the fuel hikes, as Mantashe confirmed to the citizens on Monday a massive hike in petrol prices on 6 July 2022, saying there would be a price raise. Right after, Eskom declared the implementation of stage 6.
In a statement issued on 07 July 2022, Eskom said “The state electric utility has been fighting to keep the lights on due to failures and a catastrophic strike that left power facilities unattended for the previous two weeks.” The power utility says it expects to downgrade loadshedding over the following weeks of July with generation units set to return to service. On 06 July 2022, seven producing units were restarted. Simultaneously, six production units that required immediate repairs due to the strike were shut down for maintenance.
Communities have been experienced loadshedding since then, and now Eskom has implemented short-notice stage 2 loadshedding from 16:00 PM last week. Sustainable energy solutions are a good way to go for the working class. To have light, when there is dark. Some of them do not afford to install solar energy and backup generators. The backup bulbs do not require fuel and are less noisy and more cost-effective to operate than generators.
This article was submitted on 10 August 2022. You may republish this article, so long as you credit the authors and Karibu! Online (www.Karibu.org.za), and do not change the text. Please include a link back to the original article.
