South Africa is in the grip of nationwide electricity blackouts. So how are people coping? With humour, of course.
[IMAGE: https://whisnews21.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/eyesinthedark01.jpg]
Image source
South Africa's monopoly electricity supply utility, Eskom, has seemingly run out of capacity and is imposing what it calls “load shedding”. Err.. blackouts. The causes of this include:
- Grossly incompetent managers
- Looting of the utility on a massive scale
- Deciding to erect two enormous coal-fired power stations itself, with such enormous cost overruns they are now the most expensive such plants in the world
- The two new power station don't work.
This load shedding is done in stages. Stage 1 is where they shed 1000 MW. Stage 2 is 2000 MW and so on to Stage 4 which, you guessed it is the Armageddon-like 4000 MW.
The jokes started when Stage 4 was reached, and people wondered what would happen at Stage 5. But no sooner had the unthinkable been joked about, when Eskom played a trick on the public.
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNzKF3ZxQXTQ8C8LCkcBeXoh7zRAZgt34UHd5mTPmPmYU/implements5-6.JPG]
https://twitter.com/nexus_gene/status/1107997100015603712
Yes, they started implementing Stages 5 & 6.
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmNdxTqoSgoYwWad83fMxj4mkiDPo5rp39XSQPqvGHFs4b/blows-out.JPG]
https://twitter.com/Saagir12/status/1108000855792455680
Another variant of this was:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeQPV37r4yJd2bRsfXS5bPfA2WqMd9xhUDY5hsVZWa3US/confiscate.JPG]
https://twitter.com/kitty46kat/status/1108048775245955073
But how would you light them anyway?
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbwcveg9251XS6zZnLhKdMG5YGXuTWzbDX4PQSickj85B/matches.JPG]
https://twitter.com/thedarrenmaule/status/1108071457484140545
Still, people still take naughty selfies:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbjKuLr47xsUhPL4KPqwMbS4ZTbw5qfuKqAHs4cwuauXA/naked.JPG]
https://twitter.com/keenanwradio/status/1108032294198104064
. . . and can still go out and have fun no matter what Stage we get to:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmRUXSbYtmqEEZUrnL6XNCigCm5Ciym78moy3huT8g68zB/dance-studio.JPG]
https://twitter.com/keenanwradio/status/1108032294198104064
But that might not work:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmX3putCxVhKYkf7GVFDaEYC7JtjS7tmpR8zqp4jycs2RK/diesel.JPG]
https://twitter.com/Siya020402/status/1108057630084423680
And who would you have fun with?
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmf45Qobz6m56g2nAZzYWP5xFKtENYM2ZevjJd86R8QfJH/take-man-away.JPG]
https://twitter.com/TheOpinion8d1/status/1108836740532523009
Then Eskom really gets down to business:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmejvGFnF6sdFegW84oeHKk7EHQztcQpgzHbRqA964dnKo/no-sun-thunder.JPG]
https://twitter.com/LiciousRyan1/status/1108040044412063745
Things turn uglier:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZBgGpjDwp4q3S9Goiyr6txB9US3X9dsrhWePDewUwLNB/blindfold.JPG]
https://twitter.com/Molebo_8/status/1107025905434664960
. . . and uglier:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmcdMRTci18pYAsDtVkNr35woJdyDkX168sox75MgDSh4Z/hit-over-head.JPG]
https://twitter.com/robkowa/status/1108641585959522304
It gets so bad, that eventually:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmXNRmgeHpDVzztNBPcRvDSz5W1G7HUjc4tfgkQ4vV18MR/gouge-eyes.JPG]
https://twitter.com/NicolaDoubleU/status/1108068158764658690
But, in the end, resistance is futile:
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSjsbwzamapvaSQF2vSyMXnvw1KTaBouu9hF7GWXhfBmP/take-sun.JPG]
https://twitter.com/Omphile9/status/1108734027748556800
. . . and all hope is lost.
[IMAGE: https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmVZ7ZWkvUwTn74cCyHS8EzgyvSwciuEnf98Pf4jk2TWKP/tunnel.JPG]
https://twitter.com/LolasTheme1/status/1108015118229495809
Also posted on Weku, @tim-beck, 2019-03-22