Solly Moeng | It's time to fix SA without the help of crooked politicians

Dave, my long-time friend, sits as a trustee in a body corporate of a block of flats near Milnerton, Cape Town. In response to the worsening electricity crisis, around October 2022, the body corporate decided to invest in backup battery support for the residential unit it oversees. They approached one of the growing number of service providers in this area, paid the 80% deposit he demanded (if they wanted the job done before the end of the year) and waited, and waited.

After several unreturned messages followed by frustrated conversations, the tones of which began to take unsavoury turns, the supplier told them that he had a long list of customers to deliver the same services to and would, decidedly, no longer be able to "help them" before end of January 2023.