GREY MUTTER: With winter having bared her icy teeth this past week, we know what’s coming. And if winter is going to be like this, maybe we should consider the most efficient ways of keeping warm without the luxury of electricity, writes Lance Fredericks.
LAST month, private electricity distributor Rural Maintenance had their urgent court application, to continue trying to alleviate rolling blackouts in the small Free State town of Frankfort with alternative power from a nearby private solar farm, dismissed.
The day following that judgment Eskom was forced to implement Stage 6 load shedding due to power failures at several power stations. However, Rural Maintenance had to switch off portions of a solar farm after losing their case against the utility in the high court.
Rural Maintenance had been fighting for the right to continue using alternative power to reduce the impact of rolling blackouts in the area, but Eskom won their case on a technicality, in that one of the applicants in the case – the Mafube Local Municipality – did not provide an affidavit showing their support of Rural Maintenance’s application.
It is interesting that when the Mafube municipal manager Mothusi Lepheane was approached at the time, and asked whether the municipality supported this application with Rural Maintenance, Lepheane simply responded: “No comment.”
Then, a few days ago, South Africans were warned to brace themselves for the possibility of Stage 16 load shedding. Stage 16 means that 32 hours of power cuts could be implemented – talk about the dark arts!
When approached for comment about this alarming possibility, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said: “I’m not aware of such a proposal. Please check with Eskom.”
Public Enterprises spokesperson Ellis Mnyandu echoed the sentiment saying that Eskom “will be best-placed to assist you in this regard”.
Declining to comment on these issues can leave a bitter taste in the mouth of the man on the street, especially since, according to Dr Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, the minister in the Presidency responsible for electricity, the country is set to lose more than 850,000 jobs this year owing to load shedding, after more than 650,000 jobs were lost last year.
Job losses probably sit near the top of the load shedding mess pile. Lower down, not as critical as unemployment, is the sheer inconvenience of the whole situation.
These days we cannot seem to plan anything. You arrange your plans around the load shedding schedule, prepared to deal with the current stage set by your app – yes, these days we have load shedding apps on our mobile devices – when suddenly your app beeps and you have been switched to another stage.
I have heard residents complain that when these stage switches occur, they often find themselves subjected to back-to-back blackout periods because, for example, if Stage 4 has your suburb off from 12 noon to 2.30pm and they suddenly switch to Stage 6 you could be in trouble because in your area Stage 6 runs from 2.30pm to 5pm.
And now Eskom wants to embark on a R16 billion programme of installing smart meters in every household in South Africa over the next four years.
According to the article, “A smart meter is an advanced type of digital electricity meter that records when, and how much electricity is consumed and deducts the amount consumed from a prepaid balance loaded by the customer.”
This smart meter then sends and receives automated instructions to “interrupt the power supply when your prepaid account balance reaches zero, and to reconnect supply once you have loaded credit.”
I remember reading that Eskom has faced significant financial difficulties, experiencing mounting debt along with operational inefficiencies.
There have also been claims that the power utility has been plagued by governance issues and allegations of corruption. In other words, “people” are saying that mismanagement, maladministration and corruption have hindered Eskom’s operations, financial stability, and decision-making processes.
That is why I have been thinking about this, asking the voices in my head, “How can South Africans be expected to trust the power utility with even more control over the already meagre trickle of power into our homes … nogal with prepaid money?”
After the accusations and allegations of mismanagement and maladministration, how are South Africans expected to trust that their prepaid meters will not just gobble up their hard-earned pennies?
But this is not for me to obsess about, seeing as questions on the matter are answered with a dismissive “no comment”. We probably cannot change the plans that are already in process.
So what can we do?
Well, with winter having bared her icy teeth this past week, we know what’s coming. And if winter is going to be like this, maybe we should consider the most efficient ways of keeping warm without the luxury of electricity.
I spent some time checking, and found a few tips for keeping that cold-hearted tyrant, Jonathan ‘Jack’ Frost, at bay.
Here’s what I found, firstly, several layers of light, warm clothing are better than one heavy coat. I have also heard that keeping your ears and toes covered maintains your body temperature.
We can also make the most of sunshine by opening our curtains during the day, allowing the warmth of the sun into our homes; then at evening, close them to keep the warmth from leaking out.
People also advise sealing off openings, identifying draughty areas and blocking the airflow with a blanket or towel. You can even apply tape to areas where heat may leak out.
This leaves me with a bit of a problem, as I find it impossible to sleep with a closed bedroom window.
Another tip to get warm is to get your blood moving. Just five minutes of exercise could cause an increase in body temperature, but be careful that you don’t work up a sweat since it will cool off your body once you stop moving.
Another very handy tip was proven on ‘the field of battle’ back in 1987 at an American Football game. The San Diego Chargers were facing the Denver Broncos in mid-December – that’s mid-winter in the northern hemisphere – and conditions were icy.
But what the Chargers players did was sprinkle cayenne pepper in their socks. And this kept their feet warm without the need of heaters. In fact, they were so warm and comfortable that they lost the game 24-0.
Wait … I forgot where I was going with that one.
Anyway, cayenne has well-documented heating abilities and it would be worth a try to sprinkle some in your socks – as long as you do not wear white socks – to test out this natural foot-warmer.
Some folk have even been known to mix the cayenne pepper with their normal foot powder so that their tootsies stay warm and dry.
But besides personal comfort, there is another thing we could consider to make the winter of 2023 a bit less harsh; and that would be to donate some of our old warm clothes or blankets to the less fortunate.
That way, even if the worst case scenario comes true and you find yourself sitting in a cold, dark house with only cayenne pepper to warm your feet, perhaps at least you will have a warm heart too.
