Angry South Africans vent Eskom blackout frustrations on Twitter

Social media postings about Eskom surged to a record this week, with Twitter sentiment overwhelmingly negative.

South Africans are facing more than four hours of power cuts at a time because the state-owned utility can’t produce enough electricity from its old and poorly maintained plants to meet demand. As of Wednesday, they had endured 107 days in 2022 of so-called loadshedding — the worst year yet — with more pain to come.

Essential services that have been disrupted include mobile and internet connectivity, and provision of water and sanitation. The outages are causing traffic snarl ups and halting business, leading to public criticism of the government.

The chart displays how many tweets about Eskom have been published in 30-minute intervals by accounts monitored by Bloomberg. The lower part shows whether the tweets were positive or negative.

Here are a few select tweets:

Dear SARS. I need to submit an expense claim against my next tax payment to replace a tyre from a pothole, my geyser thermostat from loadshedding, my gate motor battery and my Apple TV as well as the diesel bill for my generator. Please let me know the process. Many thanks.

— Dean Oelschig (@DeanOelsch) September 20, 2022

To people defending useless eskom board and CEO: 79% of blackouts since 2007 have happened since board was appointed in 2018. 64% of blackours since 2007 have happened since ADR was appointed in Jan 2020. Energy availability factor has collapased from 79.47% in 2018 to 56%.

— @DumaGqubule (@DumaGqubule) September 21, 2022

Nah if loadshedding is going to be with us forever I think “ how to cross a four way stop” should be added to the matric syllabus because yoh i can’t be fighting for my life at every intersection.

— honey (@Hannah_Limbada) September 19, 2022

Loadshedding is no longer an inconvenience. It’s a violation of human rights on so many levels. Cyril & Pravin are violating our human rights.

— Bra Hloni (@BraHlonisky) September 21, 2022

The sad part is that former CEO of Eskom Mr Khoza warned Thabo Mbeki about Loadshedding in 2005

Mbeki ignored the warnings and in 2007 loadshedding started under Mbeki

Zuma came to power in 2009 with the power issue now out of control he built 2 power stations but well..

— Mo (@Mo_Magoda) September 20, 2022

Did you know the central SA government exempts itself from loadshedding? My office in Arcadia (a few blocks from the Union Buildings) has never had loadshedding.

What, exactly, makes the “work” they “do” in the Union Buildings more important than actual economic productivity?

— Martin van Staden (@Martin_ASFL) September 18, 2022

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