South Africans, how are you dealing with load shedding?

amother

Wed, Aug 23 2023, 4:50 pm

My in laws live in joburg. They tell us all of the time about the load shedding going on there. Hours at a time that they have no electricity. They have a generator but never use it.

How are you all able to live your lives knowing you have load shedding in x amount of time? It must make things so very hard.

Are any of you thinking of leaving because of this?

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:48 am

sequoia wrote:

Inverters are the way to go…

Huh? I guess if soeone has inverters on every electrical appliance. But what about lights? And Im going to assume that most people dont have inverters. Also, dont they have to be powered by something as well?

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:50 am

amother OP wrote:

why don't they use the generator? What's the point of it?

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:57 am

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

why don't they use the generator? What's the point of it?

I literally could not tell you why they dont use it. We have asked them many times. Saving it for when there is no electricity the whole day? I have no idea.

amother

Dustypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:27 am

Hi all, speaking from Joburg here
1. Many people (whoever can afford) have switched over to solar. Solar boilers, solar panels, inverters/batteries are charged with solar and all appliances are connected to the solar inverter. Some house are completely "off the grid" not connected to electricity at all.
2. Mostly everyone else has inverters or generators. Inverters - batteries are charged with electricity. If you bought regular batteries they don't last much longer than a year and literally money down the drain. Then you need to replace with lithium batteries. Most people will run lights, fridge, freezer, and 1 or 2 plugs off the inverter. You can't really use high wattage heat producing appliances on your inverter.
3. Generators run off diesel. They make a lot of noise and the costs adds up if you are running a lot of appliances off your generator. There are generators that run off of gas but they are more expensive but are cheaper to run.
Beginning of the year was a nightmare. Many days we didn't have electricity for 10 hours. That last few months have been 2-4 hours a day.
Any questions? I'll try to answer them

imasinger

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 6:38 am

amother Dustypink wrote:

So which option did you choose? Are you satisfied with it?

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 7:16 am

amother Dustypink wrote:

Ever thought of leaving the country?

amother

Thistle

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 7:19 am

My in laws live there too! Many people did leave the country and still are. It very hard to leave because the standard of living they are used to and the community they are used to (SA has one of the most unified and amazing Jewish communities in the world literally). They won't be able to live like this anywhere else so it's a big decision for many.
It is a dying country, that's the reality.
Every time we visit it's worse and worse.

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 7:28 am

amother Thistle wrote:

Like having maids who do all the household chores at a low cost?

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 2:55 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Like having maids who do all the household chores at a low cost?

Im the OP and I cant tell if your question is snarky or not, but I will tell you that as a non south african it is very hard to understand that way of living. But the household help are not slaves. They are paid. My in laws have paid for: a home for one worker, university for one of their grandchildren, eye surgery for another worker. They will get a pension when they stop working.
They are very cared for as art of the household. It is not like many people know, but it is not slave labor. As for the two people who work in my in laws home, they never went to school. Yes, back when they were the age to go to school, blacks were not equal to whites. Again, not something that most of us are used to, but that was the reality. So to be able to have a job that is stable and bring money in to their families, is something. No slave labor.

amother

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 2:57 pm

amother Thistle wrote:

I tell people this too. I am not from SA and the first time my husband took me back there I was blown away by the jewish community. I told him the same thing you said. I thought the achdut of every single different kind of jew there was amazing. I also had never seen that anywhere before. Its a dwindling community, but such a lovely and welcoming one.

amother

Dustypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:11 pm

imasinger wrote:

So which option did you choose? Are you satisfied with it?

We just replaced our inverter batteries with lithium. It works for us. Would love to convert to solar but we can't afford to invest it in - though in the long term it does work out cheaper.

amother

Dustypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:22 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Ever thought of leaving the country?

Definitely. Financially the only possibility might be E"Y and we have teenage children that are doing well here and we wouldn't risk having them integrate into the school system there. We also are happy with our community and friends. Everyone is a part and everyone contributes. Very often people leave and have a difficult time dealing with the being a "nobody" somewhere else. Come visit and then you'll understand what is special about this place.

amother

Dustypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:30 pm

Bnei Berak 10 wrote:

Like having maids who do all the household chores at a low cost?

Exactly as OP said.
Some people don't have full time help, more like cleaning ladies (called chars) who come a few times a week. This is becoming more common. It's also a new generation and people pay their help much fairer salaries (still way less than anywhere else) and treat them very well including helping them pay for their kids education, medical expenses and more. Many literally treat them like family and with way more respect than anywhere else.

amother

Dustypink

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 3:43 pm

Trademark wrote:

I don't keep up with South African news, why is this going on?

BRICS summit taking place in Johannesburg - very interesting...today was the final day...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.....ummit

https://www.timeslive.co.za/po.....tion/

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/0......html

Bnei Berak 10

Thu, Aug 24 2023, 4:12 pm

amother OP wrote:

Lots of women would be thrilled to have household help, including me Smile

Personally have worked with SA in Israel and they are one of the most pleasant people there is and Jews have a reputation for treating their black cleaning ladies and staff far better than other non-jews.