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Once the highly infrastructure developed economic powerhouse of Africa, South Africans these days are more interested in the outlook for rolling blackouts. The country’s most-downloaded app provides schedules, alerts and forecasts for power outages.
Eskom, the state power monopoly, is struggling to generate enough electricity to meet needs, and has re-introduced a byzantine system of rotating outages known as “load-shedding.” On February 11th a whopping 4,000 megawatts of power, enough to power some 3m households, was cut from the national grid to prevent it from collapsing. Some businesses have bought generators and battery systems; others close during outages. In big cities, there is chaos at rush hour as traffic lights go dark. The blackouts suit copper-cable thieves, who can steal without fear of electrocution. And when the electricity is switched backed on, substations sometimes explode, resulting in secondary outages.
https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2019/02/21/why-the-lights-keep-going-out-in-south-africa
[paywall: you can see the whole article in 'anonymous view' through startpage.com]
More on the situation:
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/energy/267263-south-africas-electricity-system-is-falling-apart-and-it-is-much-bigger-than-just-eskom.html
How to bring back the lights in South Africa?
(Score: 2, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday April 23 2019, @11:18PM (37 children)
Also calm, rational, and utterly devoid of even the implication of racism, let alone entire boatloads of ACs diarrhea-posting "scientific" racism as Gospel truth. Nope. This one's gonna be as calm and smooth as a frozen lake on a clear February morning.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 23 2019, @11:36PM (28 children)
It seems like Trump's guilt is sinking in. Most seem to have gone a bit silent, but the ones with no shame are ramping up the racism. They're too stupid to realize that it was never OK, even with Trump rubber-stamping their personal supremacy cards.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:18AM
Or after Obama, the race cards don't get as much mileage as they used to. Maybe the people who like to throw it are just bitching more out of disappointment? Is it OK now not to like you because your a dick, without it being about race?
Can't be true! /sarc When the Washington Compost runs three pages of "everybody white below the mason dixon is a racist retard" articles on a weekly basis, really they are just enlightening us all to their open mindedness. Which is something I'll have to ponder if ever I am faced with the opportunity to stop a fascist from kicking the shit out of one of their reporters.
Was racism. Now mostly whinism. Stop pretending to be a freedom rider, it isn't the fucking 60's anymore.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:51AM
Hey Libtard.
"No path to 270"
You were wrong.
"Impeachment in 2018!"
You were wrong.
"Just wait til the Mueller Report!"
You were wrong.
STOP BEING SO FUCKING STUPID AND FULL OF YOURSELF DESPITE THE RAMPANT STUPIDITY!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:56AM (13 children)
This situation is just too damn obvious. If you can't accept the truth here, then you are so disconnected from reality that you need medication.
What is there to argue? There is no insight to be had. Africa is Africa. We all know it, even if some of us are in denial.
Making the other argument, that Africans might succeed, could be fun. It's like explaining why the Earth is flat, or why the Moon landings were faked. You have to go through some contortions. It is a worthy challenge.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:01AM (12 children)
They've improved considerably in the past 50 years. That includes South Africa of today with its rolling blackouts.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:32AM (1 child)
Especially since they started to genocide white people
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @03:18PM
They do seem to be the source of many of the non-white world's problems.
(Score: 4, Troll) by driverless on Wednesday April 24 2019, @08:56AM (9 children)
Oh God, where to start on this one. Eskom has no trouble generating power, what they can't do is get it to where it's needed, a problem created by a combination of running down the infrastructure created by a lack of funds due to embezzlement by local authorities (Eskom was once ranked the best-run power company in the world), combined with reverse apartheid that requires they fire all white workers and hire only black workers. Problem is that when you let go all your white engineers with 30, 40, 50 years of experience in running a power grid and replace them with fresh college graduates with degrees in developmental studies you get a power grid that collapses regularly. The only way to fix it is to fly in Siemens engineers from Germany to sort it out because you've fired all the local ones who could have done it, and with no money (see embezzlement above) you can't afford to do that. Result: Eskom goes from the world's top-rated power provider to basket case in under fifteen years.
That's the very, very short version. Longer version of just how fucked-up the whole system is would fill a book, and I'd have to post as AC via Tor once names and financial amounts start getting mentioned.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 24 2019, @10:53AM (8 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:29PM (5 children)
Actually no..., infrastructure, the lights..infrastructure, etc. used to work in South Africa before. Now they don't.
This is also why "diversity" is nonsense. The smartest people, most qualified for the jobs, no matter what race, should get the job.
You don't see basketball teams full of Asians in the United States because everyone knows that generally blacks (and some whites, along with some Asians), are the best for the job. It is by merit.
Same goes for this.. The people who are capable of running the powerplants (and the government) are no longer in charge, because the majority of the population (which is now in charge), have too low IQs and don't know any better. During Apartheid, they didn't vote, so this wasn't a problem.
Now this doesn't mean that black people shouldn't vote, or that only white ones should.. because there are plenty of dumb white people too (just not as many as a percentage). Perhaps a very basic IQ test before allowing people to vote, so smart people of any race can vote and dumb ones of any race cannot?
Not sure what the answer is but basically post-apartheid countries have all become basket cases (like the rest of Africa) and people who are too dumb are now making the decisions. Democracies only work if there is an average society IQ that is high enough. Otherwise, you get this..
(Score: 2) by pe1rxq on Wednesday April 24 2019, @01:16PM (2 children)
It only ever worked if you ignored the non-white parts of the country.
Nice try....
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:40PM
no..actually, that is exactly the point...it never does..
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @05:36PM
so it's whitey's fault they couldn't de-black the blacks completely? yeah, fuck off.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @03:22PM
While not a perfect solution, this one will work for you:
1) Put on an overcoat with deep, reinforced pockets.
2) Fill all pockets with rocks.
3) Walk into the sea.
4) ... ?
5) We profit.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Wednesday April 24 2019, @10:29PM
I notice pe1rxq seems to think that wasn't true in the non-white parts of the country. What's your take on that? It also ignores that GDP per capita has gone up significant since.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Thursday April 25 2019, @04:40AM (1 child)
It has nothing to do with the parent, but since it's an actual real response to the article I posted it there to front-run the hundreds of off-topic gibberish US political shitfest / racist comments that the discussion turns into.
Incidentally, the above was from a former Escom accountant who got fired for repeatedly pointing out what the Guptas were upta with Escom.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 26 2019, @06:08PM
I'll be a American racist before a European dhimmi any day.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:57AM (1 child)
It's not when people are talking (even when it's mostly shouting) that you need to worry. It's when people go silent -- when even the last desperate attempts at communication have been abandoned as futile -- that the real trouble starts.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @01:01AM
Then I guess it is a good thing my post drew out 3 of the angry white duds.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:27AM (9 children)
Yes, Trump has been impeached, and he is beginning a lengthy prison sentence for all the crimes he has committed!
Oh, wait. Sorry, I got sucking into your liberal dream for a moment there. Actually, Trump was all but exonerated of any wrong doing. They can't hang diddly on him. Wake up and smell the coffee.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Wednesday April 24 2019, @07:39AM (2 children)
An interesting case of accidentally saying the truth due to a lack of understanding of the peculiarities of the English language. ;-)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/all%20but [merriam-webster.com]
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @01:22PM (1 child)
Well, Trump can't be completely exonerated. He's been a douche for decades, after all. But, you can't send a guy to prison because he's a douche, can you?
(Score: 2) by cmdrklarg on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:38PM
Part of me wishes that were true... though I think 10 lashes would be more effective.
The world is full of kings and queens who blind your eyes and steal your dreams.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @03:38PM (3 children)
Exonerated? The only reason Mueller didn't charge him with obstruction of justice is because of the long-standing rule against indicting a sitting President. At least 10 attempted acts of obstruction were outlined in the report. The only thing Trump has done successfully is obfuscate what Mueller was investigating (links or coordination between Trump campaign and Russia) and the word "collusion". The Mueller report detailed numerous links between Trump and Russia and the Trump Campaign and Russia. They just weren't technically illegal on the face of it. Wow, what a glowing report!
I think the pResident showed us the truth when he found out about the Special Counsel being appointed: "Oh my god. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked." Then he bitched at Sessions that, "you were suppoed to protect me!" Truly, this is the outburst of an innocent man! /sarc
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @04:08PM (2 children)
So - what you're saying is - the president is covered by law. And, that's what you're interested in, right? The law? It's written right into the law. The president can do things that would send you or me to prison. Congress critters, likewise. Senators. Cops, federal agents, prosecuting attorneys - all of them can perjure themselves in court, and get away with it, but if they prove you or I did the same thing, we could see prison.
Laws, rules, regulations, traditions, custom, on and on it goes. And, Trump walks away from all the shit slinging a free man.
Now, get over it?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @05:01PM (1 child)
Actually, no, it's not "the law". The Constitution absolutely allows for indictment of a sitting president. It's just an opinion devised by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel in the 70s. It's selective enforcement of the nation's laws. Also, he can be impeached by the Congress. And he can certainly be INDICTED AFTER he's no longer pResident. Plus we have the SDNY criminal investigations into Trump and the 14 ongoing federal criminal investigations that are likely centered around his criminal family. My guess is regardless of whether anyone else is caught holding the bag, Jared's following in his daddy's footsteps to the Federal Pen.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @05:11PM
Oh yes, of course the constitution allows for the indictment of a sitting president, for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Now, will you kind define "high crimes and misdemeanors"? There's a catch though. Your definition must be approved by 66% or more of all Soylentils. If you don't get a supermajority approval of your definition, then your definition is just more meaningless shitzls.
I'm waiting with bated breath. (I'm also waiting for someone to tell me that I spelled baited wrong, LMAO!!)
(Score: 3, Informative) by ilsa on Wednesday April 24 2019, @05:58PM (1 child)
He absolutely was NOT exonerated. If Trump had been found innocent, the report would have said so explicitly.
Here is a really good review/summary of what it says, and more importantly, why it was said and why it used the particular phrasing it used.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f71Rasj_0JY [youtube.com]
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday April 24 2019, @06:29PM
I hear double-good double-speak in that video. When all is said and done, Trump has committed no impeachable offenses, nor has he opened himself to charges of illegalities. If it could be proved beyond a reasonable doubt, we all know that collusion with the Kremlin to "fix" the outcome of the 2016 election would be deemed impeachable. Mueller found no evidence of such collusion, or at the very least, he found insufficient evidence of such collusion.
I'm really not interested in lawyer speak, or rationalizations for failure, or theories about why evidence was hard to find, or any other leftist excuses for this grand waste of time. The left set out to impeach Trump, and they have failed to impeach Trump. That single sentence sums everything up nicely.
(Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday April 23 2019, @11:37PM
Was the reference to frozen lake sounds intentional? [youtube.com]
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Informative) by c0lo on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:16AM (1 child)
Feb is end-of-summer in .za.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 4, Touché) by black6host on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:19AM
And I feel sorry for those who have to live there and have their seasons all screwed up :)
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Hartree on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:23AM (2 children)
No one needs to bring race into it, though, sadly, they probably will.
Incompetence, crony-ism and corruption are equal opportunity. Look at any of several of the former Soviet republics for examples.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by PartTimeZombie on Wednesday April 24 2019, @12:47AM (1 child)
Along with the stupid promises the ANC made to the people of South Africa when they came into power.
They were never going to achieve half of what they promised, and now it's been 25 years and things are no better for most people the ANC is starting to lose it's grip on power.
There will be real trouble when they actually lose their parliamentary majority, and that day is coming.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @06:57PM
That's crazy, socialist governments NEVER fail!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:35AM
How many south africians does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Just one, but only if a white person gave him a lightbulb.
(Score: 2, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 24 2019, @02:41AM
Well! Since you brought it up, maybe you should think about what kind of people made South Africa the powerhouse that it was, and that now it is running on pure inertia as it all crumbles like an abandoned inner city housing project. Think about what kind of people it takes to make THAT happen! Oh yes! It's all the bank's fault! Right?