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Gauteng hit most by blackouts
18/03/2008 14:11 - (SA)
Cape Town - Load shedding has affected the lives of many South Africans, particularly those in metropolitan areas, according to a recent survey.
TNS Research Surveys conducted a survey among 2 000 adults from SA's major metropolitan areas. Half the participants said that load shedding had little effect on their lives. Of the 50% who agreed that power cuts had little effect on their lives, 53% were black and were 45% white.
However, there were some people who were severely affected by the power cuts across the country. Thirty-nine percent of people say they were caught in grid-locked traffic and 12% were caught in a lift when the power went out.
The results of the survey show that Gauteng residents were most affected by load shedding while residents in the Eastern Cape were least affected.
People across the country claimed power outages were making their lives more difficult. More than half the participants have experienced a degree of financial strain, according to the survey.
If citizens don't save electricity by July 2008, they can be penalised by three to five times their regular power tariffs, Nelisiwe Magibane, vice-director general of the Department of Minerals and Energy, said on March 10. The department was finalising legislation that could have a drastic effect on SA's electricity consumers.
Coping mechanisms
Torches, gas equipment and generators are among the things people have started to buy to deal with load shedding that is sometimes initiated without warning.
"Some people have taken a number of substantive actions to cope with load shedding, with those more likely to have acted being the more affluent," said the TNS survey.
Most people bought torches and gas equipment while only five percent installed solar water heating.
It was reported earlier that Gauteng decided to move to four- to 4½-hour power cuts, instead of the standard two- to 2½-hours but cuts would come at less frequent intervals.
"Where possible, certain essential services may be excluded permanently or for an extended period of time from the load shedding schedules," Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin said on Tuesday. He was responding to a flurry of questions from opposition MPs on the electricity crisis.
Who is to blame?
Eskom and the government were both at fault, according to the survey. The results were split almost equally. Seventy-four percent of people said Eskom was to blame for the power crisis. Of the 74%, 71% were blacks, 76% were whites, 79 were coloureds and 80% were Indians/Asians.
The government was at fault, according to 69% of participants. Of the 69% who blamed the government, 63% were blacks, 83% were whites, 73% were coloureds and 79% were Indians/Asians.
The majority of people believe that load shedding will have serious long term effects on the economy, while 30% of people are under the impression that load shedding will not be a problem for much longer.
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