Eskom don’t surf

Smell of load-shedding in the morning [View this email in your browser]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Mail & Guardian]( [Twitter]( [Facebook]( [Instagram]( [YouTube]( Hi there, This is one of those weeks when the editorial agenda sets itself. Eskom. The situation is now untenable. [Sunday’s emergency press conference]( from the power utility’s chief executive Andre de Ruyter left no doubt that we are facing a serious moment in our nation’s history. Just how serious, Eskom officials would not tell us. Or perhaps they themselves don’t know. Just how close are we to a countrywide blackout? What happens when there’s no more electricity to power the water pumps? In other words, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic, how close are we to the electricity apocalypse? On Monday morning we agreed that it was imperative that we, the nation’s media, uncover the answers ourselves to such questions. As one of our news editors Des Erasmus macabrely remarked: “I love the smell of load-shedding in the morning.” Beyond the word play in the above graphic, in many ways our journey with load-shedding mirrors Martin Sheen’s feverish trek through the Vietnamese jungle. As fresh-faced recruits in 2007, we could have no idea about the horrors in front of us on the arduous path. Along the way we encountered plenty of Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore-type characters in the Eskom boardroom. Just as the bonkers commander insisted that surfing continue amid the mortars, so too have the executives told us to resume normal living amid the blackouts. Just plan accordingly. But we have now reached the heart of darkness – no pun intended. It is here where the ominous tones of Marlon Brando’s Colonel Kurtz echo through our heads. Fun film references aside, it is critical we work out the course we are on as a nation. Stick with us this week as we attempt to illuminate the way. Yours in solidarity, Luke Feltham [Subscribe now]( Enjoy The Ampersand? Share it with your friends [Share]( [Share]( [Tweet]( [Tweet]( [Forward]( [Forward]( [Share]( [Share]( Copyright © 2022 Mail & Guardian Media LTD, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in to receive communications from the Mail & Guardian either at our website or by taking out a print subscription. Our mailing address is: Mail & Guardian Media LTD 25 Owl St BraamfonteinJohannesburg, Gauteng 2001 South Africa [Add us to your address book]( Want to change which mails you receive from Mail & Guardian? [Update your preferences]( to tell us what you do and don't want to receive, or [unsubscribe](. *If you are a paying subscriber, we recommend updating your preferences rather than unsubscribing, as you may miss important information relating to your subscription.