Looks as if the last 15 weeks were a rehearsal for the start of the real drama….
Checking my cell phone for news while at the courthouse today (story below), I learned that, after 4 months of uninterrupted supply of electricity, Eskom's load shedding was imminent.
Eskom is South Africa’s State-owned Enterprise/parastatal that generates 95 percent of southern Africa’s energy: about 45 percent is consumed in South Africa and the rest exported to Botswana, eSwatini, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Load shedding a la South Africa, the interruption of supply to avoid excessive load on electricity generating plants, is supposed to be the measure of last resort to prevent the country-wide collapse of the power system and to balance the energy grid.
Seventy-seven percent of South Africa's energy needs come directly from coal with 81 percent of all coal consumed domestically going to the production of electricity. (Fun fact: Eskom emits at least 42 percent of South Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions.)
Chronic power shortages began in 2007.
Eskom has blamed everything from diesel shortages, inclement weather, wet coal, no coal, malfunctioning turbines, employee problems, and "unexplained incidents". But the root causes are gross mismanagement and rampant corruption. (Two huge new power stations—Medupi and Kusile—are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.)
So far, the tally for lost revenue stands at more than ZAR72 billion, with an additional ZAR716 million spent by businesses on backup generators.
Small business owners in South Africa report load shedding was the number one challenge they faced in Q1 of 2019. At least 40 percent of small businesses lost more than 20 percent of their revenue during that period.
While short duration outages occurred in the last four months, none were defined as load shedding. Perhaps Covid-19 discouraged it – at least until today.
Imagine: hospitals without power during a pandemic.
News blues…
University of the Witwatersrand Professor Shabir Madhi said airborne transmission of Covid-19 is a reality and has been underestimated… and that this explains the rapid rate at which the coronavirus is being transmitted.Madhi warned that it is now more important than ever for everyone to wear masks.
***
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the [US’s] top infectious disease expert, said Thursday that the country was not doing well as cases of the coronavirus continue to surge nationwide, and he placed some of the blame on a divisive culture that has politicized efforts to fight the pandemic.
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And, The Unclear on the Concept Award goes to:Republican Senator Del Marsh of Alabama said he’s “not concerned” about the current spike in cases of the coronavirus in that state.
“Quite honestly, I want to see more people, because we start reaching an immunity as more people have it and get through it. … I don’t want any deaths — as few as possible… So those people who are susceptible to the disease, especially those with preexisting conditions, elderly population, those folks, we need to do all we can to protect them. But I’m not concerned. I want to make sure that everybody can receive care. And right now we have, to my knowledge as of today, we still have ample beds.”Someone should mention to Del Marsh that his “knowledge as of today” is faulty.
A recent study by the Spanish government and the country’s leading epidemiologists… found that just 5 percent of those tested across the country maintained antibodies to the virus.
Moreover, with 60,000-and-climbing new cases per day in the US,
Health experts cautioned that it was too early to predict a continuing trend from only a few days of data. But the rising pace of deaths … followed weeks of mounting cases … and suggested an end to the country’s nearly three-month period of declines in daily counts of virus deaths.
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Daily Maverick webinars- "War Party: How the ANC’s political killings are breaking South Africa.”
A virtual book launch with Sam Sole and author Greg Ardé. - “Emerging stronger: building an economically and environmentally resilient post-Covid
world.” Hosted by Ferial Haffajee with Nicole Martens and Tarryn Sankar - “The Accidental Mayor: Herman Mashaba and the battle for Johannesburg.”
Hosted by Greg Nicolson with Herman Mashaba.
***
A new MeidasTouch ad, Creepy.Meanwhile, back at the ranch…
Assisted by a member of the new security provider team, I went to court to apply for a Protection Order against my harasser.We arrived before 9am…and departed at 2:15pm.
We arrived prepared with paperwork and audio recordings, passed through security and the Covid testing station (temperature taken, hands sanitized, tracing document signed) passed paperwork on to administrators, and … waited… and waited… and waited – of course, wearing masks the whole time.
One of two magistrates was out quarantined with suspected Covid exposure.
I’d been warned that a Protection Order may not be granted, that I must present a convincing case. As it turned out, instead of a formal sit-down with the magistrate, I chatted briefly with him in the hallway when he told me he’d reviewed the documentation and granted the Order.
Relief!
Next step: police or security personnel will find the perp – not easy – and hand deliver paperwork to him. (I suggested they seek him in the illegal shebeen!)
Court date: August 5.
Three weeks away.
I’d allowed myself to fantasize about a window seat in a half-empty repatriation flight – via Amsterdam – to San Francisco.
I guess that ain’t happenin’…
But, I shed some of the load I'd been carry about threats to my life.
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