Some real but mostly unconsidered costs hiding in the dark corners of load shedding

Abstract

Culling electrical demand to save a fickle supply costs South Africa more than you may think. Load shedding is South Africa’s new norm, affecting each of us, with individual impacts ranging from annoyance to ruin. Much of our vital and collective electrical lifeline is sacrificed on the altars of convenience, inefficiency, and oversight. This Commentary sheds light on some of the hidden costs of load shedding. We call for custodianship of this crucial and limited shared source of life, and call on government to incentivise electricity generation, preferably the renewable and distributed type.