There have been 372 days of scheduled power cuts from the beginning of 2021 to the end of March — of which only 75 were in 2021. The number of hours of load-shedding in 2022 was three times more than in the past five years.
Many South Africans say things are looking dark these days, according to an online survey conducted by the South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag) in January.
Anxiety, stress, strained family relationships and feelings of helplessness were some of the issues the just over 1,800 respondents said they were struggling with. Three-quarters of participants who were employed said being expected to produce the same amount of work despite having sporadic power supply caused stress — and many people fear that continued load-shedding will lead to job losses and derail attempts to turn around the country’s struggling economy.
You can read the full article by clicking on the link below :
Living in South Africa is not for the feint-hearted! We are truly a nation of strong, courageous and resilient people. It’s only when you talk to people living in other countries, that you realise just how much stress we deal with in this beautiful country of our birth (or choice if you settled here from somewhere else).
I would highly recommend that everyone read the full article that outlines the results of this survey.
Already financially strapped, most South Africans are unable to invest in solar, or inverters, or generators to help when the power is out. And so what do you do when being load-shedded. Particularly when you are trying to work, to service your clients, to run your business, to cook your family a decent dinner, get through the washing and in general clean your home?
Load-shedding is forcing us all to live our lives differently. For the meat eaters, it’s all about braai’ing to get dinner on the plate 90% of the time. For those who are vegetarian and vegan, it’s a little more challenging. Planning when to cook and what to cook is forcing us to be creative in what we manage to serve as dinner on any given night.
And all these things are important. However, our mental health is so much more important. Someone very close to me runs her business from home, and is working crazy ridiculous hours to get through her work, sometimes sitting up in the early hours of the morning when power is available. Yes, it’s all about adjusting and that’s all good, but when you’re working from 4 to 6 am to get work out, on a regular basis, you bet it’s going to have an effect on you, your mental and physical health.
It really is all about time management and not allowing yourself to become fearful of the effects of load-shedding, of not having enough time with power, to fulfill what you need to. I certainly don’t have all the answers, but knowing that we are such a resilient and forgiving nation, who take everything in our stride, and make an alternative plan, I know that we’ve got this. Load-shedding is going to be a part of our lives for many more years to come, we cannot allow it to creep so deep into us that it destroys us completely!
You can read the full article at this link :
Author: Spirit Connection
Spirit Connection is an online platform to facilitate connecting light workers with people seeking their help.
