Intermission from Boat Building: Part 1 CAUTION CALIFORNIA

Our goal is to try and find the positive. . . . but also be honest and factual about what is experienced here. So first the facts, just in case a refresher is needed about what a “fact” is, as defined by thefreedictionary.com “Knowledge or information based on real occurrences”. So, without embellishment or feeling or subjectivism. This information is shared about real life as it is experienced, here in South Africa, while drinking a glass of wine in the proverbial dark (i.e. the power is out due to a scheduled load shedding event.) What ambiance! 😉

To back up the facts, these photos are included. 😉

Our boat production has been delayed and though time for delays had been built in, it clearly was not enough. We anticipated two weeks to play tourist and see the classic sites of Cape Town. You know them if you search the internet: Table Mountain, Chapman’s Peak, V&A Waterfront, 'Fill-in the Blank' Winery (there are many so pick one or several – seeing a winery is certainly a tourist highlight.) Penguins, Cape of Good Hope, one of the many beaches: Sea point, Green Point, Clifton Beach, Hout Bay, Kite Beach, etc.

SO expecting delays, we built in 4 weeks to see the sites, pick up some spares and items needed for the crossing, AND cool our heels until the boat was ready. We were notified of the delay about 24 hours before our flight, for more details on that read blog “Progress . . . Sort of” posted November 23, 2022.

We had a very nice studio cottage rented in Hout Bay for a month to see the sights, and prep for boat launch. As the length of the delay became more clear, we needed a place to stay and spent a significant amount of time trying to find a place. A “short-term rental” during the height of the holiday tourist season. . . it was an interesting search watching capitalism at its best. From approximately December 7th to January 12th or February or April (depending on who you ask) Cape Town is a holiday, tourist destination primarily for UK residents, though we have run into many different people from all over the planet. Long story short, we finally got a realtor to find a short-lease, fully furnished, apartment – ideally closer to the boat production facility so we could spend more time there (what else can we do). We are now BIG CITY residents of Cape Town with beautiful views of Table Mountain over the traffic noise. We are officially living more like South Africans – it has been an interesting deep-dive into the local culture. Good, Bad, and indifferent.

Electricity

These are pictures of the living room / main room of the one bedroom apartment we rented.

Living / Main Room

Electric Meter

Electrical Panel

The electricity here is called “Pre-paid”. That does NOT mean that electricity is included in the rent – as we learned. What it means - and how many people function in Cape Town - the electricity has a meter that must be paid in advance. As you can see in the picture the electric meter is in the living room on the wall next to the electrical panel. The power has to be on in order to add electricity to it.

If you do not have a South African bank account, it requires a trip to almost any grocery store, with the correct ID number of the meter. A person can add any amount they can afford to the grocery bill and it will provide a code that can be entered in the box in the living room to allow the electricity to stay on. Interesting. So upon arriving at our new temporary digs, the electricity was so low the landlord was gracious enough to add 14 units to the meter to keep the lights on. We had no idea how much “14 units” would amount to and knew we needed to head to the grocery store to get electricity. Preferably before the load shedding (power outage) started because the refrigerator had been off and we need to get some of the very-few perishables cold before the power went out – and get to the store and buy food in order to have something to eat that night. BUT how much do we need to put on the meter? Let’s guess! After all, if we keep an eye on it, we can walk to the store and add more as needed. Luckily the store was a short walk, 650 meters or about 0.4 of a mile. We started with R500,00 (about $30) which provided about 147.3 units. We found that ‘units’ is Kilowatts.

Arriving at the grocery store at the start of load-shedding.

We hoped that they had a generator and proceeded to shop.

I think I left out an important piece of information. As we moved from our touristy-studio to the big city, we were under the gun to get to the store for the items that were not provided by the furnished apartment like food (of course) or towels, toiletries (hand soap, bar soap, shampoo,) etc., so we needed to get to the store BEFORE the load shedding started because some of the stores are unable to complete sales transactions without power. That includes no buying groceries (except selected stores and we did not know which ones), no gas for your car, no purchasing electricity, no restaurant – except for those businesses that purchased their own generators. We have begun to wonder how businesses here survive. More to come on that.

We DO have a beautiful view of Table Mountain over the 6 lane divided streets AND only a 700 m (or 0.45 miles) to the beach! About the same distance to the mall which includes the grocery store, liquor store, department store and restaurants, among the typical stores that you would find in the United States.

Load-shedding / Power Outages

Power Outage Schedule

The load-shedding (power outages) occur on a schedule that is made a vailable on an app specific to your location. Well, sort of. . . Yes - a schedule is published, yes – the power goes off according to that schedule, but also at other unscheduled times as well as last minute schedule changes that cause the power to be out for longer periods of time than scheduled – it pays to look at the app OFTEN. This was the power outage schedule the day we moved to the apartment. The schedlule changes, but results in poweroutages for about 10 hrs each day.

While reading in the local news paper it indicates that the power shortage is due to a variety of reasons: lack of knowledge regarding how to run the power plant, sabotage as workers are paid by repair companies to cause problems that take a power plant offline, failure to complete power plant construction that is capable of producing the power promised by designers, etc. However, conversations with locals indicates the issue is related to coal paid for by the government / power company and then diverted to neighboring countries while leaders pocket the money. The one point everyone we have spoken with agrees on is that corruption is rampant and most want out of South Africa, especially the young people. From Uber drivers to restaurant staff, plant workers, business owners, they are all willing to share their stories and they have a common theme – they are looking for ways out of South Africa.

As a side note, President Biden was speaking with African leaders in December, including South African leaders, and indicated he would give $8 billion to South Africa to stop running their coal plants. This message resonated with the local people as being "tone deaf" as they are currently unable to meet the countries power needs running the coal plants.

A link to how South Africa's Leader believe they deserve the funds.

https://www.capetownetc.com/news/light-at-the-end-of-eskoms-tunnel-world-leaders-pledge-trillions-to-aid-sa/

Load shedding days as of Jan 11, 2023.

As the power outages increase, the fallout also increases. The sewer plants cannot keep up with the sewer needs and backups are flowing onto the beaches contaminating the water. Water treatment plants need maintaince to avoid falling into disrepair. Some locations are being asked to limit water consumption. Businesses purchase and use generators where possible to continue to run operations - increasing the demand on diesel resources and driving up the cost.

City streets during power outage.

City street when power is running.

This comparision demonstrates just how dark the city gets when the power goes out.

One lowly battery operated security light still functioning on the business across the street and a car's headlights coming down the street.

As with any big city, crime becomes an issue: security systems work until the batteries are dead, electric fences to keep baboons out are off, traffic lights (called robots here) are dark, . . . we openly contemplate with the locals "how long can the country last before a total breakdown of services leads to chaos?"

In the meantime, we learn to adjust: prepare for power outages, charge phones, change meal schedules, figure out which business can function and which ones can't and continue to prepare for a time when our boat will be finished. We just aren't sure when. Stay tuned for more on boat building.